Delirium natural history, complications and prognosis

Jump to navigation Jump to search

Delirium Microchapters

Home

Patient Information

Overview

Historical Perspective

Classification

Pathophysiology

Causes

Differentiating Delirium from other Diseases

Epidemiology and Demographics

Risk Factors

Natural History, Complications and Prognosis

Diagnosis

Diagnostic Criteria

History and Symptoms

Physical Examination

Laboratory Findings

CT

MRI

Other Diagnostic Studies

Treatment

Medical Therapy

Primary Prevention

Secondary Prevention

Cost-Effectiveness of Therapy

Future or Investigational Therapies

Case #1

Delirium On the Web

Most recent articles

Most cited articles

Review articles

CME Programs

Powerpoint slides

Images

American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Delirium

All Images
X-rays
Ultrasound
CT Images
MRI

Ongoing Trials at Clinical Trials.gov

US National Guidelines Clearinghouse

NICE Guidance

FDA on Delirium

CDC on Delirium

Delirium in the news

Blogs on Delirium

Directions to Hospitals Treating Delirium

Risk calculators and risk factors for Delirium

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Pratik Bahekar, MBBS [2]; Vishal Khurana, M.B.B.S., M.D. [3]

Overview

History, complication of delirium and prognosis depends for many factors such as, etiology, risk factors, and co-morbid illness.

History

  • The duration of delirium is typically affected by the underlying cause.
  • If caused by a fever, the delirious state often subsides as the severity of the fever subsides.
  • Ranges from less than a week to more than 2 months.
  • Most of the time symptoms resolve by 10 to 12 days.
  • Up to 15% of patients, typically elderly, delirium may last for a month and beyond.
  • Delirium associated with substance withdrawal develops when concentrations of the substance in fluid and tissue decrease after sustained, high-dose use of certain substances.
  • Substance withdrawal delirium can also occur after the reduction of lower doses in patients having poor clearance, experiencing drug interactions, or taking combinations of drugs. The duration of the delirium usually varies with the half-life of the substance involved.
  • Longer-acting substances usually are associated with less severe but more protracted withdrawal also they may not have an onset of withdrawal symptoms for days to weeks after use of the substance is discontinued.
  • Substance withdrawal delirium may continue for a few hours or may persist for as long as 2-4 weeks.

Complications and Prognosis

  1. Only 4% to 40% may have a complete recovery.
  2. Persistent cognitive deficits are common while recovering from delirium, may be related to previously unknown ailments.
  3. 22%–76% chance of dying during hospitalization if delirium is developed during the respective hospital stay and a very high death rate during the months following discharge.



The majority of patients with [disease name] remain asymptomatic for [duration/years].

  • Early clinical features include [manifestation 1], [manifestation 2], and [manifestation 3].
  • If left untreated, [#%] of patients with [disease name] may progress to develop [manifestation 1], [manifestation 2], and [manifestation 3].
  • Common complications of [disease name] include [complication 1], [complication 2], and [complication 3].
  • Prognosis is generally [excellent/good/poor], and the [1/5/10­year mortality/survival rate] of patients with [disease name] is approximately [#%].

References

  1. "Practice guideline for the treatment of pati... [Am J Psychiatry. 1999] - PubMed - NCBI".
  2. Salluh, J. I. F.; Wang, H.; Schneider, E. B.; Nagaraja, N.; Yenokyan, G.; Damluji, A.; Serafim, R. B.; Stevens, R. D. (2015). "Outcome of delirium in critically ill patients: systematic review and meta-analysis". BMJ. 350 (may19 3): h2538–h2538. doi:10.1136/bmj.h2538. ISSN 1756-1833.
  3. McCusker J, Cole M, Abrahamowicz M, Primeau F, Belzile E (February 2002). "Delirium predicts 12-month mortality". Arch Intern Med. 162 (4): 457–63. doi:10.1001/archinte.162.4.457. PMID 11863480.

Template:WH Template:WS