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Delirium in the Critically Ill Patients

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Critical Care Sedation

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Abstract

As demonstrated by the huge number of publications in the last decade, there is a growing interest in delirium in intensive care. This is a common acute brain dysfunction in the critically ill and is associated with unfavorable outcomes, such as longer hospital stay, increased morbidity, and mortality. Nevertheless, it remains largely underdiagnosed. Its etiology is surely multifactorial and many different mechanisms can be implicated in its development, but its pathogenesis is poorly understood. The use of appropriate diagnostic tools, as specific scoring scales, helps in the diagnosis of delirium, which is not always straightforward, particularly in its hypoactive and subsyndromal forms. Individuation of risk factors and non-pharmacological strategies is a fundamental tool in prevention and treatment of delirium. This chapter outlines epidemiology of delirium, its pathophysiology, and the appropriate measures for diagnosis, prevention, and treatment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi, Florence, Italy

    Fulvio Pinelli M.D.

  2. Department of Health Science, University of Florence, Florence, Italy

    Elena Morettini & Elena Cecero

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  1. Fulvio Pinelli M.D.
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  2. Elena Morettini
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  3. Elena Cecero
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Correspondence to Fulvio Pinelli M.D. .

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  1. Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi, Firenze, Italy

    Angelo Raffaele De Gaudio

  2. Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi, Firenze, Italy

    Stefano Romagnoli

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Pinelli, F., Morettini, E., Cecero, E. (2018). Delirium in the Critically Ill Patients. In: De Gaudio, A., Romagnoli, S. (eds) Critical Care Sedation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59312-8_13

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