Open AccessPostoperative delirium after long-term general anesthesia in elderly patients, how to reduce it?
Author(s) -
Xiaoyuan Sui,
Qingmei Duan,
Kunling Liu,
Cuicui Li
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.59
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1536-5964
pISSN - 0025-7974
DOI - 10.1097/md.0000000000025885
Subject(s) - medicine , delirium , laparotomy , anesthesia , dexmedetomidine , postoperative cognitive dysfunction , incidence (geometry) , sedation , emergence delirium , adverse effect , cognition , surgery , intensive care medicine , psychiatry , physics , optics
Background: Long operation duration (>4 hours’ anesthesia) of laparotomy in elderly patients would increase the risk of postoperative delirium (POD), which is characterized by acute cognitive dysfunction, changes in the level of consciousness, obvious attention disorder, emotional disorder, and sleep-waking cycle disorder. The occurrence of POD is closely related to the risk of death, and it will also seriously affect the cognitive function of patients, prolong postoperative hospital stays, and increase medical expenses. It is known that dexmetomidine could function in sedation, analgesia and anti-sympathetic effect, and it also could simulate the normal sleep state of human body, but there is still a lack of clinical study of dexmedetomidine on the incidence of POD in elderly patients undergoing long-term general anesthesia in laparotomy. Methods: This is a single-center, double-blinded, randomized controlled study. With the approval of the Ethics Committee of Chongqing Shapingba District People's Hospital, participants who meet the requirements will be randomly divided into the treatment group (continuous infusion of dexmetomidine) and the control group (continuous infusion of 0.9% sodium chloride solution) in a ratio of 1:1. The incidence of delirium, cognitive function score, inflammatory factors, and adverse reactions will be evaluated after the operation. Finally, the data will be analyzed by SPSS 22.0. Conclusion: The results of this study will explore the efficacy and safety of dexmetomidine in reducing the incidence of postoperative delirium in elderly patients undergoing long-term general anesthesia in laparotomy. Trial registration: OSF Registration number: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/2GJY6