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General versus spinal anaesthesia and postoperative delirium in an orthogeriatric population
Author(s) -
Ilango Sivarajah,
Pulle Ranjeev Chrys,
Bell Jack,
Kuys Suzanne S
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
australasian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 1440-6381
DOI - 10.1111/ajag.12212
Subject(s) - delirium , medicine , general anaesthesia , anesthesia , hip fracture , observational study , population , spinal anesthesia , hip surgery , surgery , arthroplasty , osteoporosis , intensive care medicine , environmental health
Aim Postoperative delirium is common among elderly hip surgery patients. We aimed to pragmatically evaluate whether type of anaesthesia influenced postoperative delirium in an orthogeriatric population following hip fracture. Method This observational study comprises prospectively collected data on hip fracture patients admitted between O ctober 2010 and N ovember 2011. Delirium was diagnosed clinically by geriatricians. Results Of the 344 patients admitted, seven managed conservatively and 19 with incomplete data were excluded; 318 patients were analysed. Average age was 81.6 ( SD 9.8) years; 28% were men and 167 (53%) were administered general anaesthesia. Mean length of stay was 18 ( SD 9.4) days. Overall, 172 patients (54%) experienced delirium. There was no apparent difference in postoperative delirium by anaesthetic type (88 vs 84, P = 0.15). Conclusion Delirium was common in both general and spinal anaesthetic patients. Further randomised controlled trials would be required to determine whether anaesthesia type influenced delirium rates.