Strategies to Prevent Delirium in ICU

Delirium confusion state is a serious problem common in ICU especially in elderly patients (> 65 years), which can cause cognitive dysfunction in the short term and long term, increase the number of days of hospitalization worsening evolution, increasing the number of complications, and the levels of morbidity and mortality. The most important risk factors which determine the delirium are considered: visual disturbances, severe illness (pneumonia, chronic lung disease, congestive heart failure, unbalanced diabetes, cerebrovascular disease, etc.), cognitive impairment or dementia, dehydration, lack of sleep, impaired hearing. Numerous studies have shown that delirium prevention is more effective than treating it, stressing the importance of recognizing delirium assessment and staff training for its diagnosis. The implementation of such measures in intensive care units may help improve patient outcomes, shorten the stay in intensive care after discharge, avoiding the occurrence of disability.