Delirium

New findings suggest that treatments that decrease oxidative damage might help with postoperative delirium that occurs in up to 30% of cardiac surgery patients. Read More

A Vanderbilt study of more than 1,000 intensive care unit patients around the country, nearly three-fourths of whom experienced delirium, showed that many drugs given to sedate patients in the ICU are actually increasing their chances of — and duration of — delirium instead of helping them recover. Read More

Catatonia, a syndrome of motor, emotional and behavioral abnormalities frequently characterized by muscular rigidity and a trance-like mental stupor and at times manifesting with great excitement or agitation, can occur during a critical illness and appear similar to delirium. But the management strategies are vastly different. Read More

With other risk factors held equal, children who received a benzodiazepine sedative drug were nearly three times more likely to experience delirium – confused thought – the following day. Read More

Interventions for delirium in the emergency department setting are needed to preserve patients’ long-term function and cognition, Vanderbilt investigators have found. Read More

High levels of blood markers for vascular endothelial dysfunction were associated with longer periods of confusion in ICU patients, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered. Read More

Patients who suffer a longer duration of delirium in the intensive care unit are more likely to experience long-term disability after discharge. Read More

A recent Vanderbilt study shows a significant number of patients are entering I.C.U.’s throughout the world with no evidence of cognitive — brain related issues, but are leaving with symptoms associated with mild Alzheimer’s or Traumatic Brain Injury. Barb Cramer has more. Read More

Patients treated in intensive care units across the globe enter their medical care with no evidence of cognitive impairment but often leave with deficits similar to those seen in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) or mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD) that persist for at least a year, according to a Vanderbilt University Medical Center study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Read More

Dysfunction of the endothelial cells that line blood vessels may contribute to delirium and coma in critically ill patients – and could be a target for therapy. Read More