Preventing ICU Subsyndromal Delirium Conversion to Delirium With Haloperidol

About one-third of the patients who develop mild, acute confusion (i.e., subsyndromal delirium) will go on to develop a severe acute confusional state (i.e. delirium). Delirium refers to a temporary change in the way a person thinks about things. Delirium occurs in patients admitted to the hospital particularly those patients that are very sick, who are given a number of medications, and who are not able to sleep normally. It affects their behavior, their understanding of the people and things around them, and their ability to make decisions. While ICU doctors do everything possible to eliminate the factors that may cause delirium, delirium may cause a person to become very agitated which if not controlled is dangerous to their safety as well as the safety of those around them. As well, if delirium develops in patients in the ICU, it may increase the risk for death, keep patients in both the ICU and hospital for longer and send patients to a long term care facility rather than home after they are discharged from the hospital. A recent medical report found that patients in the ICU who develop subsyndromal delirium have a mortality rate, a length of stay in both the ICU and the hospital, and a transfer rate to a long term care facility that is nearly as great as patients with delirium and greater than patients who develop neither subsyndromal delirium or delirium. Recent studies in non-ICU patients suggest that if a patient who is at high risk for developing delirium receives a medication called an antipsychotic (e.g. haloperidol) they may not be as likely to develop delirium or if they do develop delirium it will not last as long. No studies have evaluated the effect of administering an antipsychotic in patients in the ICU who have subsyndromal delirium. Another study completed in the ICUs at Tufts Medical Center found that there may be an association between the development of delirium in patients with subsyndromal delirium and the use of haloperidol. However, this