The relationship of postoperative delirium and unplanned perioperative hypothermia in surgical patients

Department

WellStar School of Nursing

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-2021

Embargo Period

9-20-2022

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between postoperative delirium (POD) and unplanned perioperative hypothermia (UPH) among adults undergoing noncardiac surgery.

Design

A retrospective, exploratory design was used.

Methods

A retrospective, exploratory study was conducted using electronic medical record data abstracted from a purposive convenience sample of adult patients undergoing noncardiac surgery from January 2014 to June 2017.

Findings

The analyzed data set included 22,548 surgeries, of which 9% experienced POD. Logistic regression indicated that American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class was the strongest predictor of POD (χ2 = 1,207.11, df = 4, inclusive of all ASA class terms). A significant relationship between UPH and POD (χ2 = 54.94, df = 4, inclusive of all UPH terms) and a complex relationship among UPH, patient age, ASA class, and POD were also found.

Conclusions

Results support a relationship between UPH and POD. Notably, there is also a complex relationship in the noncardiac surgery population among UPH, age, ASA class, and POD. Preliminary understanding of this relationship is based on the pathophysiological response to surgical stress. Further research is indicated.

Journal Title

Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing

Journal ISSN

1089-9472

Volume

36

Issue

1

First Page

41

Last Page

46

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jopan.2020.06.015

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