Delirium resident survival guide: Difference between revisions
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==Definition== | ==Definition== | ||
'''Delirium''' is an acute and relatively sudden (developing over hours to days) decline in attention-focus, perception, and [[cognition]]. | '''Delirium''' is an acute and relatively sudden (developing over hours to days), fluctuating decline in attention-focus, perception, and [[cognition]]. | ||
==Causes== | ==Causes== | ||
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*[[Raised intracranial pressure]] | *[[Raised intracranial pressure]] | ||
*[[Sepsis]] | *[[Sepsis]] | ||
*[[Systemic organ failure]] | *[[Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome|Systemic organ failure]] | ||
*[[Wernicke's encephalopathy]] | *[[Wernicke's encephalopathy]] | ||
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Revision as of 18:15, 11 March 2014
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Pratik Bahekar, MBBS [2]
Overview
It is commonly associated with a disturbance of consciousness (e.g., reduced clarity of awareness of the environment). The change in cognition (memory deficit, disorientation, language disturbance) or the development of a perceptual disturbance, must be one that is not better accounted by a preexisting, established, or evolving dementia. Usually the rapidly fluctuating time course of delirium is used to help in the latter distinction.
Distressing symptoms of delirium are sometimes treated with antipsychotic, preferably those with minimal anticholinergic activity, such as haloperidol or risperidone, or else with benzodiazepine, which decrease the anxiety felt by a person who may also be disoriented, and has difficulty completing tasks. However, since these drug treatments do not address the underlying cause of delirium, and may mask changes in delirium which themselves may be helpful in assessing the patient's underlying changes in health, their use is difficult. Because delirium is a mere symptom of another problem that may be very subtle, the wisdom of treatment of the delirious patient with drugs must overcome natural skepticism, and requires a high degree of skill.
Definition
Delirium is an acute and relatively sudden (developing over hours to days), fluctuating decline in attention-focus, perception, and cognition.
Causes
Life Threatening Causes
Common Causes
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Management
Diagnosis
Treatment
Do's
Dont's
References
- ↑ "http://psychiatryonline.org/content.aspx?bookID=28§ionID=1663978". External link in
|title=(help) - ↑ "Matching the Environment to Patients with Delirium: Lessons Learned from the Delirium Room, a Restraint‐Free Environment for Older Hospitalized Adults with Delirium - Flaherty-2011 - Journal of the American Geriatrics Society - Wiley Online Library".