A prospective cohort study of emergence delirium and its clinical correlates in a pediatric intensive care unit in North India

Delirium is a common occurrence in medically compromised adults, but, research is limited in the pediatric population especially from low- and middle-income countries such as India.This study aimed to evaluate the emergence of delirium in children aged 5-18 years admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of a tertiary care hospital in North India. Other objectives included delineating the clinical characteristics of delirium and its clinical correlates.It was a prospective cohort study in which all admitted children during a calendar year were assessed and those fulfilling the inclusion criteria were enrolled for study. The Pediatric Confusion Assessment Method Intensive Care Unit (p-CAM-ICU) scale was used to diagnose delirium.ut of 305 total admissions to the PICU, 105 children were included. More than two third were male (68.6%) with a median age of 11 years. The incidence of delirium was 11.4% and median duration of delirium was 2 days. Majority of the children had hypoactive delirium (58.3%), followed by hyperactive (25%) and mixed type (16.7%). Metabolic or respiratory acidosis at baseline was significantly associated with delirium (p = 0.030). Presence of delirium led to significant prolongation of PICU stay (p < 0.001).The emergence of delirium elicited in this study is on the lower side incomparison to previous studies. Several etiological factors for delirium are preventable and hence protocols and guidelines for management are required.