Identification of prognostic markers for postoperative delirium in neurosurgical patients

Abstract

Postoperative delirium (POD) is among the most common postsurgical complications, it may increase hospital stays and patients’ mortality. An incidence of 3-25% for POD in neurosurgical patients from different countries has been reported. Several risk factors for POD in neurosurgical patients have been reported, but they have not been very useful for prevention and management since they lack prognostic value, limiting their use in the clinical practice. It is necessary to undertake studies to identify perioperative variables that could show a prognostic value for POD in neurosurgical patients at the Postanesthetic Care Unit, based on a strict statistical analysis that could be reliably applied to the clinical practice allowing the design, in the future, of a prognostic scale for this complication.