Prevention of Post-operative Delirium in Older Cancer Patients Undergoing Surgery

摘要

Post-operative delirium (POD) occurs in as much as 50% of all surgical cancer patients, with older patients being particularly at risk. (–) Population aging is a real concern for the surgical oncologists () who are treating patients who would not have been considered for surgery in the past. There is a strong association between increasing age, a cancer diagnosis, and the need for surgical intervention. Therefore the identification of pre-surgical risk factors and those patients at higher risk of POD as well as indentifying prophylactic measures aimed at reducing POD emergence, and targeted therapies for POD are especially important. Prevention has been shown to be the most effective strategy for minimizing the occurrence of delirium as well as delirium-associated complications. () Therefore prevention of delirium in older adults undergoing surgery is a top research priority given the extent of the problem in this patient population. In this review, we will describe the POD syndrome, previously identified risk factors that predict POD in surgical cancer patients, long-term outcomes of POD and both non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic therapies aimed at preventing POD.