Decreasing the Incidence of Delirium After Cardiac Surgery

Summary

In critically ill surgical patients, delirium (confusion and disorientation) is extremely common and is associated with longer hospital length of stay, mortality, cost, and long term cognitive impairment. The goal of the study is to establish whether benzodiazepines (a sedative, anti-anxiety drug) should be used as part of standard of care or be eliminated by comparing the chances of delirium in cardiac surgery patients between two groups: a group that receives benzodiazepines during surgery versus a group that does not receive benzodiazepines during surgery. Benzodiazepines have historically been used in cardiac anesthesia to decrease the risk of anesthesia awareness. The current standard of care is to keep the patient on inhaled anesthesia throughout the surgery which eliminates the need for intraoperative use of benzodiazepines. Benzodiazepines are still used based on practitioner preference. Findings of this study will allow all anesthesiologists to make more informed decisions about what level of care our patients need.

Timeline

Start

2017-08

Primary completion

2017-08

Completion

2017-08

Outcome

Outcome not reported

Stopped: “Study was never initiated.”

Publications

• Background Ely EW, Inouye SK, Bernard GR, Gordon S, Francis J, May L, Truman B, Speroff T, Gautam S, Margolin R, Hart RP, Dittus R. Delirium in mechanically ventilated patients: validity and reliability of the confusion assessment method for the intensive care unit (CAM-ICU). JAMA. 2001 Dec 5;286(21):2703-10. doi: 10.1001/jama.286.21.2703.
• Background Ely EW, Gautam S, Margolin R, Francis J, May L, Speroff T, Truman B, Dittus R, Bernard R, Inouye SK. The impact of delirium in the intensive care unit on hospital length of stay. Intensive Care Med. 2001 Dec;27(12):1892-900. doi: 10.1007/s00134-001-1132-2. Epub 2001 Nov 8.
• Background Ely EW, Shintani A, Truman B, Speroff T, Gordon SM, Harrell FE Jr, Inouye SK, Bernard GR, Dittus RS. Delirium as a predictor of mortality in mechanically ventilated patients in the intensive care unit. JAMA. 2004 Apr 14;291(14):1753-62. doi: 10.1001/jama.291.14.1753.
• Background Pisani MA, Kong SY, Kasl SV, Murphy TE, Araujo KL, Van Ness PH. Days of delirium are associated with 1-year mortality in an older intensive care unit population. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2009 Dec 1;180(11):1092-7. doi: 10.1164/rccm.200904-0537OC. Epub 2009 Sep 10.
• Background Girard TD, Jackson JC, Pandharipande PP, Pun BT, Thompson JL, Shintani AK, Gordon SM, Canonico AE, Dittus RS, Bernard GR, Ely EW. Delirium as a predictor of long-term cognitive impairment in survivors of critical illness. Crit Care Med. 2010 Jul;38(7):1513-20. doi: 10.1097/CCM.0b013e3181e47be1.
• Background Milbrandt EB, Deppen S, Harrison PL, Shintani AK, Speroff T, Stiles RA, Truman B, Bernard GR, Dittus RS, Ely EW. Costs associated with delirium in mechanically ventilated patients. Crit Care Med. 2004 Apr;32(4):955-62. doi: 10.1097/01.ccm.0000119429.16055.92.

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Indications