Update of the European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine evidence-based and consensus-based guideline on postoperative delirium in adult patients.

Postoperative delirium (POD) remains a common, dangerous and resource-consuming adverse event but is often preventable. The whole peri-operative team can play a key role in its management. This update to the 2017 ESAIC Guideline on the prevention of POD is evidence-based and consensus-based and considers the literature between 01 April 2015, and 28 February 2022. The search terms of the broad literature search were identical to those used in the first version of the guideline published in 2017. POD was defined in accordance with the DSM-5 criteria. POD had to be measured with a validated POD screening tool, at least once per day for at least 3 days starting in the recovery room or postanaesthesia care unit on the day of surgery or, at latest, on postoperative day 1. Recent literature confirmed the pathogenic role of surgery-induced inflammation, and this concept reinforces the positive role of multicomponent strategies aimed to reduce the surgical stress response. Although some putative precipitating risk factors are not modifiable (length of surgery, surgical site), others (such as depth of anaesthesia, appropriate analgesia and haemodynamic stability) are under the control of the anaesthesiologists. Multicomponent preoperative, intra-operative and postoperative preventive measures showed potential to reduce the incidence and duration of POD, confirming the pivotal role of a comprehensive and team-based approach to improve patients' clinical and functional status.

Preoperative Risk Factors Associated with Increased Incidence of Postoperative Delirium: Systematic Review of Qualified Clinical Studies.

Postoperative delirium (POD) is an acute alteration of mental state, characterized by reduced awareness and attention, occurring up to five postoperative days after recovery from anesthesia. Several original studies and reviews have identified possible perioperative POD risk factors; however, there is no comprehensive review of the preoperative risk factors in patients diagnosed with POD using only validated diagnostic scales. The aim of this systematic review was to report the preoperative risk factors associated with an increased incidence of POD in patients undergoing non-cardiac and non-brain surgery. The reviewed studies included original research papers that used at least one validated diagnostic scale to identify POD occurrence for more than 24 h. A total of 6475 references were retrieved from the database search, with only 260 of them being suitable for further review. Out of the 260 reviewed studies, only 165 that used a validated POD scale reported one or more preoperative risk factors. Forty-one risk factors were identified, with various levels of statistical significance. The extracted risk factors could serve as a preoperative POD risk assessment workup. Future studies dedicated to the further evaluation of the specific preoperative risk factors' contributions to POD could help with the development of a weighted screening tool.

Perioperative risk factors associated with increased incidence of postoperative delirium: systematic review, meta-analysis, and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation system report of clinical literature.

BACKGROUND: Systematic reviews to date have neglected to exclusively include studies using a validated diagnostic scale for postoperative delirium and monitoring patients for more than 24 h. Evidence on current risk factors is evolving with significantly heterogeneous study designs, inconsistent reporting of results, and a lack of adjustment for bias. METHODS: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to identify risk factors for postoperative delirium in an adult patient population. Study designs suitable for this review included full-text articles, RCTs, observational studies, cohort studies, and case-control studies. Extracted variables from the 169 (7.4%) selected studies were included in qualitative synthesis, quantitative synthesis, and a postoperative delirium checklist. The 16 variables included in the checklist were selected based on consistency, direction of effect, number of studies, and clinical utility as a reference for future studies. RESULTS: A total of 576 variables were extracted, but only six were eligible for meta-analysis. Age (mean difference [MD]=4.94; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.93-6.94; P<0.001), American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status >2 (odds ratio [OR]=2.27; 95% CI, 1.47-3.52; P<0.001), Charlson Comorbidity Index ≥2 (OR=1.9; 95% CI, 1.11-3.25; P=0.0202), and Mini-Mental State Examination (MD=-1.94; 95% CI, -3.6 to -0.27; P=0.0224) were statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Risk factors can assist in clinical decision-making and identification of high-risk patients. Literature analysis identified inconsistent methodology, leading to challenges in interpretation. A standardised format and evidence-based approach should guide future studies.