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Pharmacologic prevention and treatment of delirium in intensive care patients: a systematic review.

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Published:31st Jul 2015
Author: Serafim RB, Bozza FA, Soares M, do Brasil PE, Tura BR, Ely EW.
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Ref.:J Crit Care. 2015 Aug;30(4):799-807.
DOI:10.1016/j.jcrc.2015.04.005.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study is to determine if pharmacologic approaches are effective in prevention and treatment of delirium in critically ill patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a systematic search to identify publications (from January 1980 to September 2014) that evaluated the pharmacologic interventions to treat or prevent delirium in intensive care unit (ICU) patients.

RESULTS: From 2646 citations, 15 studies on prevention (6729 patients) and 7 studies on treatment (1784 patients) were selected and analyzed. Among studies that evaluated surgical patients, the pharmacologic interventions were associated with a reduction in delirium prevalence, ICU length of stay, and duration of mechanical ventilation, but with high heterogeneity (respectively, I(2) = 81%, P = .0013; I(2) = 97%, P < .001; and I(2) = 97%). Considering treatment studies, only 1 demonstrated a significant decrease in ICU length of stay using dexmedetomidine compared to haloperidol (Relative Risk, 0.62 [1.29-0.06]; I(2) = 97%), and only 1 found a shorter time to resolution of delirium using quetiapine (1.0 [confidence interval, 0.5-3.0] vs 4.5 [confidence interval, 2.0-7.0] days; P = .001).

CONCLUSION: The use of antipsychotics for surgical ICU patients and dexmedetomidine for mechanically ventilated patients as a preventive strategy may reduce the prevalence of delirium in the ICU. None of the studied agents that were used for delirium treatment improved major clinical outcome, including mortality.

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