Delirium in children and adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
To study the clinical profile of children and adolescents (< or = 14 years) referred to the Consultation-Liaison (CL) psychiatry services of a Tertiary Care Centre.


METHODS
Retrospective chart review.


METHODS
Patients seen by the CL psychiatry services of Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh.


METHODS
Subjects diagnosed as delirium (as per ICD-10) during their inpatient stay was done.


METHODS
phenomenology of delirium and response to treatment.


RESULTS
Forty-six children and adolescents were diagnosed as delirium by the psychiatry consultation-liaison team. The most common underlying pathology was infection of various types, followed by neoplasms. All subjects exhibited sleep-wake cycle disturbance and impaired orientation. Other common symptoms were impaired attention (89.5%), impaired short-term memory (84.2%), agitation (68.4%), and lability of affect (60.5%). Delusions and hallucinations were reported by only a few patients. Most of the patients were treated with low dose haloperidol and they responded well.


CONCLUSIONS
Sleep wake cycle disturbances and cognitive dysfunction are common in children and adolescents with delirium.
Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India. drsandeepg2002@yahoo.com
Sandeep
S
Grover
Savita
S
Malhotra
Rahul
R
Bharadwaj
Subodh
S
Bn
Suresh
S
Kumar
D000293:Adolescent; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003693:Delirium / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D006220:Haloperidol / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D011567:Psychiatric Department, Hospital; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D006220:Haloperidol