Delirium resident survival guide
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Pratik Bahekar, MBBS [2]
Definition
Delirium is an acute and relatively sudden (developing over hours to days) decline in attention-focus, perception, and cognition.
Causes
Life Threatening Causes
- Acute Liver failure
- Acute Renal failure
- Adrenal cortex insufficiency
- Alcohol withdrawal
- Brain infection
- Burns
- Carbon monoxide toxicity
- Cardiac failure
- Cerebral oedema
- Cerebrovascular accident
- Cyanide
- Diabetic hypoglycemia
- Diabetic ketoacidosis
- Drug overdose
- Drug withdrawal
- Epileptic seizures
- Encephalitis
- Head injury
- Heart failure
- Hyperosmolar non-ketotic diabetic coma
- Hypertensive encephalopathy
- Hypoglycemia]
- Hypoxemia
- Hypoxia
- Meningitis
- Meningoencephalitis]
- Raised intracranial pressure
- Schizoaffective disorder
- Sepsis
- Wernicke's encephalopathy
- Withdrawal states from ethanol, benzodiazepines
Common Causes
- Antihistamines
- Antipsychotics
- Chronic Liver failure
- Chronic Renal failure
- Folate deficiency
- Hyperthyroidism
- systemic inflammatory response syndrome
- Systemic organ failure
- Thiamine (Vitamin B1) deficiency
- Vitamin B12 deficiency