Intensive care unit delirium—a decade of learning

Think of delirium as the phenotypic manifestation of global, acute brain dysfunction that can deprive patients of their dignity. This syndrome of acute changes in awareness, attention, and cognition is an independent predictor of death, length of stay, cost of care, and development of rapidly acquired dementia caused by numerous medical conditions rather than a specific underlying neurocognitive disorder. Delirium is largely invisible and missed 75% of the time by medical professionals, and is a public health problem with huge societal downstream impacts.