title: [Acute postoperative confusion in heart surgery patients].
abstract: Unlike other countries, Germany does not have data about the incidence of acute confusion following heart surgery. However, the occurrence of acute confusion does extend the hospitalization length by up to 13 days. Thus, this phenomenon is of high relevance for the health profession. This incidence study was performed with the goal to obtain exact information on the incidence rate of acute postoperative confusion after heart surgery (bypass and valve operations) through a multi-center evaluation. The data evaluation took place in the form of a convenient sample survey in three different German clinics specialized in heart surgery. The observation period lasted from the day of surgery up to the fifth postoperative day. In the context of this prospective cohort study, suitable study participants were all patients aged 18 or older who underwent heart surgery between February 1st and April 30th, 2000. At the end, 860 patients were included in the study. A total of 152 patients showed symptoms of acute confusion, meaning a total incidence of 17.4% (confidence interval 14-20%). The occurrence of this phenomenon was not symmetrical. A wide-spread occurrence could be observed particularly at night. Patients aged 81-91 were mainly affected, with an incidence of confusion of 43.5% in this group. The results confirm the clinical importance of this issue and require interdisciplinary approaches for solution.
authors.affiliation: Universität Witten/Herdecke. osterbrink@klinikum-nuernberg.de
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Osterbrink
authors.forename: Herbert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mayer
authors.forename: Andre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ewers
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fiedler
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Haslbeck
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wirth
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wordel
authors.forename: Hans-Joachim
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Hannich
authors.forename: Arno
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Krian
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Laczkovics
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weyand
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McDonough
authors.forename: Georges C M
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Evers
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000523:psychology / Q000592:standards*; D003221:Confusion / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies