Delirium postoperatorio: una consecuencia del envejecimiento poblacional / Postoperative delirium among older people

Delirium (acute confusional state) is a common and disabling complication among surgical older people. It is often underdiagnosed and undertreated. Its incidence varies by type of intervention and it is associated with several complications such as functional impairment, cognitive dysfunction, prolonged hospitalization and institutionalization. These increase hospitalization costs and the risk of death. There are precipitating and predisposing risk factors, which increase the susceptibility for postoperative delirium. This condition should be considered as a syndrome of epidemiological importance, which needs to be prevented or treated in a timely manner through a multidisciplinary intervention. The perioperative care of elderly patients involves different medical specialties and is a subject of general knowledge.

O uso da terapia farmacológica para a profilaxia do delirium: revisão sistemática / The use of drug therapy for the prevention of delirium: a systematic review

Delirium é uma emergência geriátrica, com grande prevalência entre os idosos internados, de alto custo financeiro à saúde pública e grande impacto negativo na Qualidade de Vida e no prognóstico dos pacientes. Por ser uma condição clínica multifatorial, múltiplas estratégicas - farmacológicas e não farmacológicas - devem ser abordadas para sua prevenção. Assim, o objetivo deste trabalho foi revisar as evidências do uso da terapia farmacológica para a profilaxia do delirium, por meio de busca eletrônica de ensaios clínicos randomizados publicados nos últimos 10 anos nas bases de dados MEDLINE e LILACS. Foram incluídos 11 artigos. As classes utilizadas foram antipsicóticos, anticolinesterásicos e outras. A maioria dos trabalhos tinha população composta apenas por idosos, submetidos a cirurgias diversas. Dos cinco estudos que analisaram os antipsicóticos, apenas um não apresentou efetividade na profilaxia do delirium. Os três artigos que avaliaram os anticolinesterásicos demonstraram que essa classe não é efetiva na prevenção dessa doença. Outros fármacos, como a gabapentina e a melatonina, também mostraram diminuição significativa do delirium. A risperidona e a olanzapina podem ser boas opções em idosos submetidos a procedimentos cirúrgicos de emergência para profilaxia de delirium. O mesmo benefício não pode ser atribuído aos anticolinesterásicos. A gabapentina e a melatonina mostraram-se promissoras no arsenal profilático de combate a essa doença, mas, pelos poucos dados disponíveis, são necessários novos trabalhos. Apesar da importância do delirium em pacientes clínicos, quase não há artigos para sua profilaxia farmacológica, fato que abre oportunidades para estudos adicionais...

Delirium is a geriatric emergency, with high prevalence among hospitalized elderly, high financial cost to the Public Health, and great negative impact on Quality of Life and prognosis of patients. Being a multifactorial clinical condition, multiple strategies - both pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic - should be addressed to prevent them. The aim of this study was to review the evidence of the use of pharmacologic therapy for the prevention of delirium, by electronic search for randomized controlled trials published in the last 10 years in MEDLINE and LILACS databases. We included 11 articles. The drug classes used were antipsychotics, cholinesterase inhibitors and others. Most of the work was composed only of elderly population who underwent varied surgeries. Of the five studies that analyzed antipsychotics, only one showed no efficacy in the prophylaxis of delirium. The three articles evaluating cholinesterase inhibitors showed that this class is not effective in preventing this disease. Other medications such as gabapentin and melatonin also showed a significant decrease of delirium. Risperidone and olanzapine can be good options for elderly who are undergoing emergency procedures for prophylaxis of delirium. The same benefit cannot be attributed to anticholinesterase. Gabapentin and melatonin proved to be a promising prophylactic arsenal for fighting this disease, but as limited data are available, further work is needed. Despite the importance of delirium in nonsurgical patients, there are nearly no articles on its pharmacologic prophylaxis in this setting, this creating an opportunity for further studies...

Delirium en el hospital, una revisión narrativa / Delirium in the hospital, a narrative review

El delirium es una complicación frecuente entre pacientes hospitalizados, particularmente entre adultos mayores y aquellos con deterioro cognitivo. Se ha asociado a mayor mortalidad, estadías hospitalarias prolongadas, deterioro cognitivo, mayores tasas de institucionalización al alta y mayores costos para los sistemas de salud. Su fisiopatología es escasamente comprendida, planteándose en los últimos años un origen inflamatorio predominante. Ello explicaría su transversalidad y relación con la gravedad de cuadros subyacentes. Clínicamente se caracteriza por su inicio agudo con curso fluctuante, inatención, pensamiento desorganizado y un nivel de conciencia alterado. El enfrentamiento diagnóstico exige la búsqueda sistemática de desencadenantes en forma adicional a las manifestaciones del síndrome. Su tratamiento sintomático está basado en los neurolépticos como primera línea y el lorazepam en caso de que los primeros no puedan utilizarse o exista un escenario de indicación especial. Existe evidencia de que el cuadro puede prevenirse mediante la instauración de estrategias multicomponentes.

Delirium is a common complication in hospitalized patients, particularly the elderly and those with cognitive impairment. It has been associated with higher mortality, prolonged hospitalization, cognitive impairment, higher rates of institutionalization at discharge and higher costs for healthcare systems. Its pathophysiology is poorly understood, and more recently a predominantly inflammatory origin has been proposed, which could explain its pervasiveness and association with underlying conditions. Clinically, it is characterized by acute onset with fluctuating course, inattention, disorganized thinking and altered level of consciousness. Diagnostic approach is based on the systematic search for triggering factors as well as the manifestations of the syndrome. Symptomatic treatment is based neuroleptics as first line treatment, and lorazepam when the former cannot be used or there are special indications. There is evidence that the condition can be prevented by resorting to multi-component strategies.