Oxycodone induced delirium and agitation in an elderly patient following total right knee arthroplasty

Abstract

Case: Opioids are commonly prescribed for pain, and are often connected to mental status adverse events. Delirium is a side effect associated with narcotic analgesics, with a higher incidence in the elderly. This report describes an elderly male that received a total knee arthroplasty and received morphine post-operatively. On post-operative day 2, morphine was discontinued due to mental status changes and switched to oxycodone/acetaminophen. Twenty-four hours after administering oxycodone, the patient's mental status declined. After the patient returned to baseline he was transferred to rehabilitation and re-challenged with oxycodone/acetaminophen. The re-challenge was inadvertent due to inadequate documentation of the adverse event and lack of understanding by the health care team of delirium associated with opioids. A similar rapid decline in mental status occurred.

Conclusion: Clinicians should be cognizant of narcotic analgesics inducing mental status changes, even with an alternative. Detailed documentation of adverse events should occur to avoid accidental re-challenges.