A new approach to the prevention and treatment of delirium in elderly patients in the intensive care unit

Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives
Andrew B Rosenzweig, Charmian D Sittambalam

Abstract

The pronounced prevalence of delirium in geriatric patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and its increased morbidity and mortality is a well-established phenomenon. The purpose of this review is to explore the potential use of dexmedetomidine in preventing or managing ICU delirium in older patients. Articles used were identified and selected through multiple search engines, including Google Scholar, PubMed, and MEDLINE. Keywords such as dexmedetomidine, delirium, geriatric, ICU delirium, delirium in elderly, and palliative were used to obtain the specific articles used for this paper and restricted to articles published in 1990 or later. Articles specifically looking at the use of dexmedetomidine as compared to a study drug and its potential for use in ICU patients, as opposed to overall reviews of dexmedetomidine, were compared. When compared to benzodiazepines for the prevention or treatment of ICU delirium in the elderly, dexmedetomidine was associated with a reduction in delirium, as well as decreased morbidity and mortality. Dexmedetomidine has also been shown to be effective in limiting risk factors associated with ICU delirium such as length and depth of sedation. As opposed to benzodiazepines or opiates, de...Continue Reading

References

Dec 15, 1990·Annals of Internal Medicine·S K InouyeR I Horwitz
Mar 17, 2006·The New England Journal of Medicine·Sharon K Inouye
Aug 19, 2007·Journal of the American College of Cardiology·Dileep V MenonWanpen Vongpatanasin
Apr 20, 2011·The Journal of Trauma·Sandeep DevabhakthuniDeborah M Stein
Mar 23, 2012·JAMA : the Journal of the American Medical Association·Stephan M JakobUNKNOWN Dexmedetomidine for Long-Term Sedation Investigators
Jan 31, 2014·The New England Journal of Medicine·Michael C Reade, Simon Finfer

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Citations

Sep 4, 2015·Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives·Robert P Ferguson
Sep 12, 2018·International Anesthesiology Clinics·Thomas Mader, Jennie Ngai
Jan 27, 2019·Drugs & Aging·Carole LinBan C H Tsui

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