title: Postoperative delirium in a substudy of cardiothoracic surgical patients in the BAG-RECALL clinical trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Postoperative delirium in the intensive care unit (ICU) is a frequent complication after cardiac or thoracic surgery and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this single-center substudy of the BAG-RECALL trial (NCT00682825), we screened patients after cardiac or thoracic surgery in the ICU twice daily for delirium using the Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU. The primary outcome was the incidence of delirium in patients who had been randomized to intraoperative Bispectral Index (BIS)-guided and end-tidal anesthetic concentration-guided depth of anesthesia protocols. As a secondary analysis, a Bayesian stochastic search variable selection strategy was used to rank a field of candidate risk factors for delirium, followed by binary logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 310 patients assessed, 28 of 149 (18.8%) in the BIS group and 45 of 161 (28.0%) in the end-tidal anesthetic concentration group developed postoperative delirium in the ICU (odds ratio 0.60, 95% confidence interval, 0.35-1.02, P= 0.058). Low average volatile anesthetic dose, intraoperative transfusion, ASA physical status, and European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation were identified as independent predictors of delirium.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A larger randomized study should determine whether brain monitoring with BIS or an alternative method decreases delirium after cardiac or thoracic surgery. The association between low anesthetic concentration and delirium is a surprising finding and could reflect that patients with poor health are both more sensitive to the effects of volatile anesthetic drugs and are also more likely to develop postoperative delirium. Investigation of candidate methods to prevent delirium should be prioritized in view of the established association between postoperative delirium and adverse patient outcomes.
authors.affiliation: From the *Department of Anesthesiology, Washington University School of Medicine; †Department of Mathematics, Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, Missouri; and ‡Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
authors.forename: Elizabeth L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Whitlock
authors.forename: Brian A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Daniel L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Helsten
authors.forename: Molly R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Nadelson
authors.forename: George A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Mashour
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Avidan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000768:Anesthesia, General; D000777:Anesthetics / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003221:Confusion / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000523:psychology; D056805:Consciousness Monitors; D003693:Delirium / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007432:Intraoperative Period; D007902:Length of Stay; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000523:psychology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D019616:Thoracic Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000777:Anesthetics