Postoperative delirium and cognitive dysfunction

Postoperative delirium and cognitive dysfunction (POCD) are topics of special importance in the geriatric surgical population. They are separate entities, whose relationship has yet to be fully elucidated. Although not limited to geriatric patients, the incidence and impact of both are more profound in geriatric patients. Delirium has been shown to be associated with longer and more costly hospital course and higher likelihood of death within 6 months or postoperative institutionalization. POCD has been associated with increased mortality, risk of leaving the labour market prematurely, and dependency on social transfer payments. Here, we review their definitions and aetiology, and discuss treatment and prevention in elderly patients undergoing major non-cardiac surgery. Good basic care demands identification of at-risk patients, awareness of common perioperative aggravating factors, simple prevention interventions, recognition of the disease states, and basic treatments for patients with severe hyperactive manifestations. Postoperative delirium and cognitive dysfunction (POCD) are topics of special importance in the geriatric surgical population. They are separate entities, whose relationship has yet to be fully elucidated. Although not limited to geriatric patients, the incidence and impact of both are more profound in geriatric patients. Delirium has been shown to be associated with longer and more costly hospital course and higher likelihood of death within 6 months or postoperative institutionalization. POCD has been associated with increased mortality, risk of leaving the labour market prematurely, and dependency on social transfer payments. Here, we review their definitions and aetiology, and discuss treatment and prevention in elderly patients undergoing major non-cardiac surgery. Good basic care demands identification of at-risk patients, awareness of common perioperative aggravating factors, simple prevention interventions, recognition of the disease states, and basic treatments for patients with severe hyperactive manifestations. Delirium is well defined and is described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fourth edition (DSM-IV–TR; www.dsmivtr.org/). The key characteristics are a change in mental status characterized by a reduced awareness of the environment and a disturbance in attention. This may be accompanied by other, more florid, perceptual symptoms (hallucinations) or cognitive symptoms including disorientation or temporary memory dysfunction. The patient may express hypoactive, hyperactive, or mixed psychomotor behaviours. Several tests have been developed and validated for use in diagnosis and grading of delirium. These include the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM), the Delirium Rating Scale Revised-98, and the Delirium Symptom Interview.9Cole MG Delirium in elderly patients.Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2004; 12: 7-21Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (298) Google Scholar 21Inouye S van Dyck CH Alessi CA Balkin S Siegal AP Horowitz RI Clarifying confusion: the confusion assessment method: a new method for detection of delirium.Ann Intern Med. 1990; 113: 941-948Crossref PubMed Scopus (3745) Google Scholar A recent study from Japan found that the NEECHAM Confusion Scale and the Estimation of Physiologic Ability and Surgical Stress (E-PASS) are useful in diagnosis as well.17Hattori H Kamiya J Shimada H et al.Assessment of the risk of postoperative delirium in elderly patients using E-PASS and the NEECHAM Confusion Scale.Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2009; (epub March 24)PubMed Google Scholar Severity may vary, can be graded, and may have prognostic value.52Yang FM Marcantonio ER Inouye SK et al.Phenomenological subtypes of delirium in older persons: patterns, prevalence, and prognosis.Psychosomatics. 2009; 50: 248-254Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (122) Google Scholar By definition, although the disorder develops acutely, the condition will wax and wane during the course of a day. These symptoms are not exclusive to delirium. Patients who have baseline dementia, psychosis, or anxiety/depressive disorder may present diagnostic challenges. There are many subtypes of delirium, including those attributable to an underlying medical condition (delirium due to a general medical condition), medications (substance-induced delirium, substance intoxication delirium), or withdrawal from medications (substance withdrawal delirium). Sometimes delirium may be multifactorial (delirium due to multiple aetiologies) or of unclear aetiology (delirium not otherwise specified'NOS). Emergence agitation or delirium might be thought of as a subset of substance-induced delirium. It has predominance in paediatric patients, has been correlated with general anaesthesia, and provided the patient is guarded from harming themselves, usually resolves without sequelae.24Kain ZN Caldwell-Andrews AA Maranets I et al.Preoperative anxiety and emergence delirium and postoperative maladaptive behaviors.Anesth Analg. 2004; 99: 1648-1654Crossref PubMed Scopus (424) Google Scholar Emergence delirium in the paediatric population has been demonstrated to be associated with preoperative anxiety and responds to behavioural preparation and preoperative sedation.25Kain ZN Caldwell-Andrews AA Mayes LC et al.Family-centered preparation for surgery improves perioperative outcomes in children: a randomized controlled trial.Anesthesiology. 2007; 106: 65-74Crossref PubMed Scopus (284) Google Scholar For the purpose of this review, we are interested in delirium that occurs after a relatively normal emergence and that occurs at some interval after surgery and anaesthesia. This entity, which is more closely associated with older age, is referred to as postoperative (interval) delirium. Postoperative delirium (POD) is not temporally related to emergence from anaesthesia. By definition, patients with POD do not have an identifiable aetiology, although there can be other contributing factors. These patients often emerge smoothly, and may be lucid in the post-anaesthesia care unit. However, after this initial lucid interval, the patients develop the classic fluctuating mental status, most commonly between postoperative days 1 and 3. Some postoperative patients may reside in the ICU; however, the term ICU delirium (previously known as ICU psychosis) may include both medical and surgical patients. POD can differ from delirium in medical patients because the admission characteristics of the two groups can be different. By definition, patients hospitalized for medical indications are either acutely ill or have exacerbations of chronic diseases. Most surgical operations are elective and patients have been managed to ensure optimal physical status before entering the hospital. Surgery and the associated anaesthetics and analgesics are generally absent in medical patients, but can contribute to POD. An important reason to distinguish POD from delirium seen in medical patients is the report by Brauer and colleagues,8Brauer C Morrsion RS Silberzweig SB Siu AL The cause of delirium in patients with hip fracture.Arch Intern Med. 2000; 160: 1856-1860Crossref PubMed Scopus (143) Google Scholar suggesting that patients with POD are more likely to result in initial complete recovery than other forms of delirium. However, POD is far from benign. In several recent 2 yr-plus cohort studies of elderly patients, hip fracture patients who develop POD are more likely to die, be diagnosed with dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and require institutionalization.6Bickel H Gradinger R Kochs E Forstl H High risk of cognitive and functional decline after postoperative delirium.Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2008; 26: 26-31Crossref PubMed Scopus (211) Google Scholar 26Kat MG Vreeswijk R de Jonghe JFM et al.Long-term cognitive outcome of delirium in elderly hip surgery patients.Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2008; 26: 1-8Crossref PubMed Scopus (104) Google Scholar In contrast, postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is more difficult to define. Broadly, POCD refers to deterioration in cognition temporally associated with surgery. While the diagnosis of delirium requires a detection of symptoms, the diagnosis of POCD requires preoperative neuropsychological testing (baseline) and a determination that defines how much of a decline is called cognitive dysfunction. The spectrum of abilities referred to as cognition is diverse, including learning and memory, verbal abilities, perception, attention, executive functions, and abstract thinking. It is possible to have a decrement in one area without a deficit in another. Self-reporting of cognitive symptoms has been shown to correlate poorly with objective testing, so valid pre- and postoperative testing is essential to the diagnosis of POCD.23Jorm AF Christiansen H Korten AE Henderson AS Jacomb PA Mackinnon A Do cognitive complaints either predict future cognitive decline or reflect past cognitive decline? A longitudinal study of an elderly community sample.Psychol Med. 1997; 27: 91-98Crossref PubMed Scopus (192) Google Scholar Many elderly patients have pre-existing MCI that has gone undiagnosed. Unfortunately, there has not been a standard methodology used in the multiple studies within the POCD literature.36Newman S Stygall J Hirani S Shaefi S Maze M Postoperative cognitive dysfunction after noncardiac surgery: a systematic review.Anesthesiology. 2007; 106: 572-590Crossref PubMed Scopus (412) Google Scholar Selection of neuropsychological test instruments and the amount of change considered to be significant, timing of testing, and inclusion and exclusion criteria have all varied.38Rasmussen LS Larsen K Houx P Skovgaard LT Hanning CD Moller JT ISPOCD groupThe assessment of postoperative cognitive function.Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. 2001; 45: 275-289Crossref PubMed Scopus (428) Google Scholar Furthermore, the batteries used, while relevant, have had floor effects and we have not incorporated batteries that are somewhat different from those used by dementia researchers. Hence, it is difficult to define the presence and therefore incidence of POCD or to clearly understand the relationship between POCD and other dementing illnesses. Some commonly used testing instruments include the Logical Memory Test, the CERAD word list memory, the Boston Naming test, Category Fluency test, Digit Span Test, Trail making test, and Digit symbol substitution test. Interestingly, POCD test batteries tend to be a compilation of tests which have shown differences among subjects in previous studies of POCD. The domains that were most sensitive include verbal learning and working memory, episodic memory, processing speed, and set shifting. The method of scoring the testing batteries and determining how much dysfunction is clinically significant remains an open subject. One method is the percentage change method, that is, postoperative score−preoperative score/preoperative score. Averaging across groups is discouraged, because while some patients will decline, others improve over time and this difference can be masked. Another method defines a number of standard deviations outside of which a score will be called a decline. However, this method is flawed for patients with low baseline scores (floor effect). By necessity, the absolute magnitude of the change required for significance will vary between studies, since the norm is determined from the preoperative baseline test scores. Finally, some studies have used per cent change (e.g. 20%) to define decline. The limitation of this method is that the baseline low scoring patients require a smaller change in their raw score to meet POCD criterion. The timing of testing is important as well. It is possible that patients who undergo baseline testing on the morning of their procedure might not score and also patients tested days before, secondary, preprocedural anxiety. After operation, patients who are testing shortly after surgery can test worse than those who are tested weeks to months later possibly due to pain, residual drugs, and health status. However, long-term follow-up and testing is confounded by attrition, that is, patients who experience the greatest decline are the least likely to follow-up with their postoperative cognitive testing and drop out of the study. This may be a significant cause for underestimating the true incidence of POCD. Additionally, there can be significant variability between testing sessions due to learning and examiner bias.29Lowe C Rabbitt P Test/re-test reliability of the CANTAB and ISPOCD neuropsychological batteries: theoretical and practical issues. Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. International Study of Post-Operative Cognitive Dysfunction.Neuropsychologia. 1998; 36: 915-923Crossref PubMed Scopus (267) Google Scholar Although variability in neuropsychological test data contributes to a low consistency between postoperative test sessions, the differences detected suggest that this does not fully explain the detection of cognitive dysfunction after major surgery.39Rasmussen LS Siersma VD ISPOCD groupPostoperative cognitive dysfunction: true deterioration versus random variation.Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. 2004; 48: 1137-1143Crossref PubMed Scopus (62) Google Scholar It is clear that deterioration is not random variation between testing sessions. The current literature is also diverse with respect to inclusion and exclusion criteria of patients with MCI. MCI is described as the prodromal state, a heterogeneous group of conditions including Alzheimer's dementia, cerebral vascular disease, and other dementia. Most of the major studies have excluded this group due to limitations of the test battery. This is true even though this group may be the most significant risk for POCD by virtue of having less cognitive reserve.45Siedlecki KL Stern Y Reuben A Sacco RL Elkind MS Wright CB Construct validity of cognitive reserve in a multiethnic cohort: The Northern Manhattan Study.J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2009; 15: 558-569Crossref PubMed Scopus (107) Google Scholar By not differentiating this patient population, it is possible that the incidence of cognitive decline has been 'washed out' by the larger sample. Delirium as a behavioural manifestation of cortical dysfunction is associated with characteristic signs. The EEG may show diffuse slowing of background activity. A wide variety of disturbances in neurotransmitter systems has been described. Serum anticholingeric activity has been associated with delirium and may be especially important, and also other mediators such as melatonin, norepinephrine, and lymphokines.19Inouye S Delirium in older persons.N Engl J Med. 2006; 354: 1157-1165Crossref PubMed Scopus (1482) Google Scholar 48Tune L Serum anticholinergic activity levels and delirium in the elderly.Semin Clin Neuropsychiatry. 2000; 5: 149-153PubMed Google Scholar Delirium has been hypothesized to occur as a result of the inflammatory response associated with the stress of surgery. Interestingly, elevated preoperative inflammatory markers including C-reactive protein, interleukin 6, and insulin growth factor 1 (IGF-1) have not been found to be associated with the development of POD.27Lemstra A Kalisvaart KJ Vreeswijk R van Gool WA Eikenlenboom P Preoperative inflammatory markers and the risk of postoperative delirium in elderly patients.Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2008; 23: 943-948Crossref PubMed Scopus (65) Google Scholar 42Rudolph JL Ramlawi B Kuchel GA et al.Chemokines are associated with delirium after cardiac surgery.J Gerontol. 2008; 63A: 184-189Crossref Scopus (134) Google Scholar However, postoperative chemokines have been found to be more elevated in patients who became delirious than in matched controls. This difference was non-significant by postoperative day 4, and other inflammatory cytokines were not found to be different in the two groups at any time point. This would point to a mechanism for delirium which might include initial leucocyte migration into the central nervous system (CNS) and potentially a breakdown of the blood–brain barrier.42Rudolph JL Ramlawi B Kuchel GA et al.Chemokines are associated with delirium after cardiac surgery.J Gerontol. 2008; 63A: 184-189Crossref Scopus (134) Google Scholar Although the mechanism of delirium has not been elucidated, there has been significant description of associated patient risk factors. Some of these may be considered pre-existing, that is, existing vulnerabilities, and others precipitating, that is, noxious injuries. Age >70, pre-existing cognitive impairment, preoperative use of narcotics or benzodiazepines, previous history of POD, and self-reported health impairment from alcohol are all closely associated with the development of POD.28Litaker D Locala J Franco K Bronson DL Tannous Z Preoperative risk factors for postoperative delirium.Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2001; 23: 84-89Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (233) Google Scholar Other predisposing risk factors include vision impairment, severe illness, cognitive impairment, and serum urea nitrogen: creatinine ratio of 18 or greater.19Inouye S Delirium in older persons.N Engl J Med. 2006; 354: 1157-1165Crossref PubMed Scopus (1482) Google Scholar Vascular risk factors have also been strongly associated with development of delirium (tobacco use and vascular surgery), although it is unclear whether the increased risk is due to atherosclerotic burden or the surgical procedure itself.40Rudolph JL Jones RN Rasmussen LS Silverstein JH Inouye SK Marcantonio ER Independent vascular and cognitive risk factors for postoperative delirium.Am J Med. 2007; 120: 807-813Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (131) Google Scholar Decreased cerebral perfusion as a risk factor for POD is supported by a recent study which associated low preoperative regional oxygen saturation as measured by a cerebral oximeter.35Morimoto Y Yoshimura M Utada K Setoyama K Matsumoto M Sakabe T Prediction of postoperative delirium after abdominal surgery in the elderly.J Anesth. 2009; 23: 51-56Crossref PubMed Scopus (86) Google Scholar Low preoperative executive scores and depressive symptoms, as measured by the several different instruments, have been found to identify patients at risk of POD.15Green N Attix DK Weldon C Smith PJ McDonagh DL Monk TG Measures of executive function and depression identify patients at risk for postoperative delirium.Anesthesiology. 2009; 110: 788-795Crossref PubMed Scopus (85) Google Scholar 46Smith PJ Attix DK Weldon BC Greene NH Monk TG Executive function and depression as independent risk factors for postoperative delirium.Anesthesiology. 2009; 110: 781-787Crossref PubMed Scopus (89) Google Scholar POD is also associated with pre-existing attentional deficits in non-demented patients.30Lowery DP Wesnes K Ballard CG Subtle attentional deficits in the absence of dementia are associated with an increased risk of postoperative delirium.Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2007; 23: 390-394Crossref PubMed Scopus (31) Google Scholar Precipitating factors include: the use of physical restraints, malnutrition, more than three medications added 24–48 h before the onset of delirium, the use of a urinary bladder catheter, and iatrogenic events, including electrolyte and fluid abnormalities.19Inouye S Delirium in older persons.N Engl J Med. 2006; 354: 1157-1165Crossref PubMed Scopus (1482) Google Scholar Specific perioperative risk factors include greater intraoperative blood loss, more postoperative transfusions, and postoperative haematocrit of <30%.32Marcantonio ER Goldman L Orav EJ Cook EF Lee TH The association of intraoperative factors with the development of postoperative delirium.Am J Med. 1998; 105: 380-384Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (338) Google Scholar Severe acute pain regardless of the method of analgesia (opioid type, method, and dose) is associated with POD.13Fong HK Sands LP Leung JM The role of postoperative analgesia in delirium and cognitive decline in elderly patients.Anesth Analg. 2006; 102: 1255-1266Crossref PubMed Scopus (260) Google Scholar Although it is tempting to speculate the mechanism from these observations, association may not infer causality. Certain types of injury, particularly hip fractures, and serious illness requiring intensive care are also associated with a high incidence of delirium. Aetiology of postoperative cognitive decline is also unclear. Several mechanisms have been postulated. These include perioperative hypoxaemia and ischaemia. However, these variables as measured by pulse oximetry and arterial pressure were not found to be significant by the ISPOCD group.34Moller JT Cluitmans P Rasmussen LS et al.Long-term postoperative cognitive dysfunction in the elderly ISPOCD1 study. ISPOCD investigators. International Study of Post-Operative Cognitive Dysfunction.Lancet. 1998; 351: 857-861Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1807) Google Scholar This surprising result may become somewhat more comprehensible in future studies involving cerebral oximetry. Although there have been laboratory studies which suggest that general anaesthetic agents have toxic effects on the CNS, this effect is less evident in clinical studies. Interestingly, choice of anaesthesia (general vs regional) has not been found to be significant.10Culley DJ Baxter MG Crosby CA Yukhananov R Crosby G Impaired acquisition of spatial memory 2 weeks after isoflurane and isoflurane–nitrous oxide anaesthesia in aged rats.Anesth Analg. 2004; 99: 1393-1397Crossref PubMed Scopus (160) Google Scholar 11Eckenhoff RG Johansson JS Wei H et al.Inhaled anesthetic enhancement of amyloid-beta oligomerization and cytotoxicity.Anesthesiology. 2004; 101: 703-709Crossref PubMed Scopus (322) Google Scholar 50Williams-Russo P Sharrock NE Mattis S Szatrowski TP Charlson ME Cognitive effects after epidural versus general anaesthesia in older adults: a randomized trial.J Am Med Assoc. 1995; 274: 44-50Crossref PubMed Scopus (365) Google Scholar 51Wu CL Hsu W Richman JM Raja SN Postoperative cognitive function as an outcome of regional and general anaesthesia.Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2004; 29: 257-268Crossref PubMed Google Scholar However, major surgery does appear to be a principle culprit, whereas general anaesthesia and ambulatory surgery are not.34Moller JT Cluitmans P Rasmussen LS et al.Long-term postoperative cognitive dysfunction in the elderly ISPOCD1 study. ISPOCD investigators. International Study of Post-Operative Cognitive Dysfunction.Lancet. 1998; 351: 857-861Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1807) Google Scholar Increased inflammatory activity may play a role in early POCD. Elevated C-reactive protein is associated with impaired mental status in elderly hip fracture patients.5Beloosesky Y Hendel D Weiss A et al.Cytokines and c-reactive protein production in hip-fracture-operated elderly patients.J Gerontol. 2007; 62A: 420-426Crossref Scopus (160) Google Scholar Similar to POD literature, more has been described regarding risk factors and associations for POCD than the mechanism itself. Advancing age has been found as a risk factor for POCD, although minor declines have been described in younger patients as well.22Johnson T Monk T Rasmussen LS et al.Postoperative cognitive dysfunction in middle-aged patients.Anesthesiology. 2002; 96: 1351-1357Crossref PubMed Scopus (337) Google Scholar Preoperative cognitive and physical impairment and cognitive impairment during hospitalization correlate with poorer postoperative outcomes at 2 and 12 months.16Gruber-Baldini AL Zimmerman S Morrison RS et al.Cognitive impairment in hip fracture patients: timing of detection and longitudinal follow up.J Am Geriatr Soc. 2003; 51: 1227-1236Crossref PubMed Scopus (181) Google Scholar However, the epsilon-4 allele of the ApoE gene, which is strongly associated with the development of Alzheimer's disease, is not associated with the development of POCD.1Abildstrom H Christiansen M Siersma VD Rasmussen LS Apolipoprotein E genotype and cognitive dysfunction after noncardiac surgery.Anesthesiology. 2004; 101: 855-861Crossref PubMed Scopus (80) Google Scholar POD has also been associated with early postoperative dysfunction (at 7 days); however, the association with long-term cognitive function is less clear.41Rudolph JL Marcantonio ER Culley DJ Silverstein JH Rasmussen LS Delirium is associated with early postoperative cognitive dysfunction.Anaesthesia. 2008; 63: 941-947Crossref PubMed Scopus (131) Google Scholar 49Wacker P Nunes PV Cabrita H Forlenza OV Postoperative delirium is associated with poor cognitive outcome and dementia.Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2006; 21: 221-227Crossref PubMed Scopus (104) Google Scholar There may indeed be an association between POD and POCD, but the relationship has yet to be elucidated. The ISPOCD1 study did not find that the patients who developed delirium were the same patients who developed POCD. Most studies have focused on either POD or POCD; in the future, studies designed to evaluate this patient population for both and examine their association may enhance our understanding of this issue. Perioperative patient risk factors and perioperative triggers associated with POD and POCD are summarized in Table 1, Table 2, respectively.Table 1Preoperative risk factorsDeliriumCognitive declineDementiaOlder ageDepressionPreoperative cognitive impairmentAge >70Preoperative physical impairmentPreoperative use of narcotics or benzodiazepinesCognitive impairment during hospitalizationSelf-reported use of alcoholDeliriumPrevious history of deliriumVision impairmentSevere illnessBUN/creatinine ratio >18Tobacco useVascular surgeryDepressive symptomsAttentional deficits Open table in a new tab Table 2Delirium: perioperative triggersAcute painUse of physical restraintsMalnutritionAddition of three or more medications in 24–48 hUse of a urinary bladder catheterAnaemiaElectrolyte and fluid abnormalitiesGreater surgical blood loss, greater intraoperative transfusion Open table in a new tab The incidence of POD between studies ranges from 5% to 15%.4Bekkar AY Weeks EJ Cognitive function after anaesthesia in the elderly.Best Pract Res Clin Anaesthesiol. 2003; 17: 259-272Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (162) Google Scholar Within certain high-risk groups such as hip fracture patients, the range is 16–62% with an average of 35%.7Bitsch M Foss N Kristensen B Kehlet H Pathogenesis of and management strategies for postoperative delirium after hip fracture.Acta Orthop Scand. 2004; 75: 378-389Crossref PubMed Scopus (139) Google Scholar POCD is more complicated to describe, as the true incidence can be masked by attrition of the worst cases. Additionally, POCD can improve with time, so incidence must be described at a particular interval after surgery. Currently, it seems the incidence of initial deterioration in older patients is high (25% at 2–10 days) with gradual resolution (10% at 3 months, 5% at 6 months, and 1% at 1 yr).2Abildstrom H Rasmussen LS Rentowl P et al.Cognitive dysfunction 1–2 years after non-cardiac surgery in the elderly. ISPOCD group. International Study of Post-Operative Cognitive Dysfunction.Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. 2000; 44: 1246-1251Crossref PubMed Scopus (326) Google Scholar At 1 yr, the cognitive decline is indistinguishable from matched controls. However, no study has accounted for the aforementioned attrition. POD is preventable in some patients, and delirium prevention/intervention programmes have met with some success. A proactive geriatric consult alone has been shown to significantly decrease the incidence of POD.31Marcantonio ER Flacker JM Wright RJ Resnick NM Reducing delirium after hip fracture: a randomized trial.J Am Geriatr Soc. 2001; 49: 516-522Crossref PubMed Scopus (1071) Google Scholar Successful intervention programmes include the Hospital Elder Life Program. This programme focused on protocol-driven management of six risk factors for delirium: visual and hearing impairment, cognitive impairment, sleep deprivation, immobility, and dehydration. The study patients had significant reduction in the number and duration of episodes of delirium.20Inouye SK Bogardus ST Charpentier PA et al.A mutlicompartment intervention to prevent delirium in hospitalized older patients.N Engl J Med. 1999; 340: 669-676Crossref PubMed Scopus (2116) Google Scholar Specific interventions include prominent presentation of orienting information, for example, date, time, name of hospital personnel, cognitive stimulation activities, exercise, feeding and fluid assistance, and non-pharmacological sleep aids (e.g. relaxing music and massage). Attempts at pharmacological prophylaxis have met with mixed results. Although we have excluded cardiac surgery patients from our discussion, it is interesting to note that a single dose of ketamine (0.5 mg kg−1) given upon induction was associated with lower serum levels of C-reactive protein and lower incidence of delirium in this population. Authors postulate that ketamine's neuroprotective effects including prevention of excitotoxic injury and apoptosis and its suppression of CNS inflammatory response might be responsible.18Hudetz J Patterson KM Iqbal Z et al.Ketamine attenuates delirium after cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass.J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth. 2009; 23: 651-657Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (184) Google Scholar It should be noted that a single dose of ketamine has been reported to have a profound, 2 week impact on patients with refractory depression.37Price RB Nock MK Charney DS Mathew SJ Effects of intravenous ketamine on explicit and implicit measures of suicidality in treatment-resistant depression.Biol Psychiatry. 2009; 66: 522-526Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (481) Google Scholar Another study of cardiac surgery patients targeted the reduced cholinergic transmission associated with delirium with rivastigmine, a cholinesterase inhibitor. This study did not find that prophylaxis was associated with a decreased incidence of delirium, although the study found an overall lower rate of delirium than expected and was therefore underpowered for their primary outcome. A study of haloperidol prophylaxis in combination with non-pharmacological delirium prevention strategies had similar methodological difficulties, and showed no difference in the incidence of delirium. However, patients who received delirium prophylaxis with haloperidol did have a significant reduction in delirium severity and duration with an associated decrease in hospital length of stay.43Schrader SL Wellik KE Demaerschalk BM Caselli RJ Woodruff BK Wingerchuk DM Adjunctive haloperidol prophylaxis reduces postoperative delirium severity and duration in at-risk elderly patients.Neurologist. 2008; 14: 134-137Crossref PubMed Scopus (26) Google Scholar Treatment of POD has remained constant'identification of underlying medical issues, optimization of environment and pain control, and pharmacological treatment for refractory cases. It is important to stress that pharmacological treatment is not first line. However, it may be necessary when agitation puts the patient and caregivers at risk of harm or prevents normal postoperative care. The drug of choice remains haloperidol. It is an antipsychotic D2 dopamine receptor antagonist and is administered at a dose of 0.5–1 mg i.v. every 10–15 min until the behaviour is controlled. I.M. dosing is possible as well, but much less desirable. The dosage is 2–10 mg and interval for titration is 60–90 min. Careful titration is important to avoid oversedation and prolonged effects secondary to its long (up to 72 h) half-life. Newer antipsychotics have been shown to be effective in acute agitation when administered as i.m. injections, but have not been tested in medical and surgical patients.3Battaglia J Pharmacologic management of acute agitation.Drugs. 2005; 65: 1207-1222Crossref PubMed Scopus (188) Google Scholar Physical restraints are undesirable except in the most severe cases and then only as a temporary measure while pharmacological and other interventions have failed. Treatment of POD is summarized in Table 3.Table 3Treatment of PODAvoidance of known perioperative triggersDelirium intervention programmesHaloperidol for refractory hyperactive symptoms Open table in a new tab Prevention and treatment of postoperative cognitive decline is still undefined. It is unclear whether delirium prevention strategies affect long-term cognitive outcomes. High-quality perioperative care for elderly patients is a social and financial necessity. One of the fastest growing segments of the population is individuals over 65.12Etzioni DA Liu JH Maggard MA Ko CY The aging population and its impact on the surgery workforce.Ann Surg. 2003; 238: 170-177Crossref PubMed Scopus (610) Google Scholar Delirium is immediately costly, by increasing hospital length of stay and more insidiously by its association with mortality and cognitive decline.14Francis J Martin D Kapoor WN A prospective study of delirium in hospitalized elderly.J Am Med Assoc. 1990; 263: 1097-1101Crossref PubMed Scopus (763) Google Scholar POCD can remove individuals prematurely from the workforce or require previously independent individuals to seek help with activities of daily living or assisted care facilities.47Steinmetz J Christensen KB Lund T Lohse N Rasmussen LS ISPOCD GroupLong-term consequences of postoperative cognitive dysfunction.Anesthesiology. 2009; 110: 548-555Crossref PubMed Scopus (708) Google Scholar Identification of at-risk individuals is possible, given the available literature. The creation of 'centres of excellence' where process measures are implemented and risk-adjusted outcomes explored might allow us to identify strategies to optimize care.33McGory ML Shekelle PG Rubenstein LZ Fink A Ko CY Developing quality indicators for elderly patients undergoing abdominal operations.J Am Coll Surg. 2005; 201: 870-883Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (43) Google Scholar There is already evidence that this is possible and helpful.20Inouye SK Bogardus ST Charpentier PA et al.A mutlicompartment intervention to prevent delirium in hospitalized older patients.N Engl J Med. 1999; 340: 669-676Crossref PubMed Scopus (2116) Google Scholar However, there are not enough geriatricians to relegate the perioperative care of the elderly to specialists. Caring for perioperative geriatric patients by necessity must be a multidisciplinary effort.33McGory ML Shekelle PG Rubenstein LZ Fink A Ko CY Developing quality indicators for elderly patients undergoing abdominal operations.J Am Coll Surg. 2005; 201: 870-883Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (43) Google Scholar The Cochrane review on delirium prevention in hospitalized elderly patients found that there is a paucity of high-quality research on delirium prevention. Reasons include the difficulties with detection and conducting research in these frail and debilitated patients, and the confounding factors of medical problems, pre-existing cognitive deficits, and attrition which we have mentioned previously.44Siddiqi N Holt R Britton AM Holmes J Interventions for preventing delirium in hospitalised patients (review).The Cochrane Collaboration. 2009; Google Scholar An ideal study would focus on long- and short-term outcomes including mortality and physical and cognitive/psychological morbidity. POCD, while established as a diagnostic entity, requires more research to understand its aetiology. This may facilitate future studies regarding treatment and prevention. At a minimum, larger studies using a standard definition and meticulous follow-up may enhance our understanding of this perioperative phenomenon. An agreement of what tests and degree of change defines a clinically significant cognitive deficit would facilitate comparison across studies examining either its incidence or the efficacy of an intervention. With respect to mechanistic understanding of POCD, new modalities such as cerebral oximetry and detection of serum markers of inflammation show promise. As members of society and practitioners of perioperative medicine, we are invested in the future of excellence in geriatric care. In the clinical arena, more awareness and deliberate care plans are necessary to implement those interventions which are already known to decrease or ameliorate the incidence of POD. Education of care teams regarding these strategies for prevention is of the utmost importance. Geriatrician involvement where possible is helpful, but the essence of good basic care is identification of the at-risk individual, awareness of common perioperative aggravating factors, simple prevention interventions, recognition of the disease state when it occurs, and basic treatments for patients with severe hyperactive manifestations. Ongoing studies of clinical cohorts with and without MCI before operation may help us understand the risks of cognitive dysfunction after non-cardiac surgery. Future research may help us understand underlying biochemical or physical insults which may lead us to better directed prophylactic treatment.