Postoperative Delirium in Cardiac Surgery Patients

Abstract

Objective: The authors studied the incidence of postoperative delirium among cardiac surgery patients using the Intensive Care Delirium Screening Checklist (ICDSC).

Design: Prospective screening.

Setting: Two university hospitals.

Participants: A total of 1,036 consecutive patients.

Interventions: None.

Measurements and main results: Patients were prospectively screened from day 1 to day 10 after surgery or until hospital discharge. Appropriate perioperative data were collected. The overall incidence of postoperative delirium was 11.5%. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, age over 70 years, higher EuroSCORE points, longer aortic occlusion time, and profuse drainage increased the incidence of delirium. The duration of mechanical ventilation and intensive care unit length of stay were longer in the group of patients with delirium (10.6 hours [6.6-19.5] v 6.4 hours [4.9-8.6], p < 0.001, and 1.7 days [0.9-4.2] v 0.9 days [0.9-1], p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Postoperative delirium is common after cardiac surgery, and it is associated with the duration of mechanical ventilation.

Keywords: cardiac surgery; delirium; postoperative complications.