Effect of Antipsychotics and Non-Pharmacotherapy for the Management of Delirium in People Receiving Palliative Care.

Effect of Antipsychotics and Non-Pharmacotherapy for the Management of Delirium in People Receiving Palliative Care. J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother. 2020 Jul 30;:1-12 Authors: Lee KY, Tan ECK, Hanrahan JR, Chircop C, Michael F, Ong JA Abstract Evidence to support the use of antipsychotic medications for the management of delirium symptoms remains limited. The primary objective of this study was to compare the effect of antipsychotic and non-antipsychotic treatments for delirium symptoms among palliative care inpatients. Secondary outcomes were use of midazolam and overall survival. This involved retrospective analysis of medical records (November 2018 to April 2019) for adult palliative care patients diagnosed with delirium at an Australian tertiary hospital. NuDESC was used to assess symptoms daily from baseline to Day 3. All 65 patients (mean age 73.5 ± 13.7 years, 48% female, 59% with cancer) included received standard care which included management of underlying causes of delirium symptoms, of which 17 received additional treatment using antipsychotic medications. Forty-eight did not receive any antipsychotic medication. An absolute reduction in NuDESC score was observed in the group that did not receive additional treatment using antipsychotics (by 1.37 units, 95% CI 0.79-1.95, p < 0.0001). A significantly higher proportion of midazolam use (n = 9, 53% versus n = 2, 4%, p < 0.001) and shorter media...
Source: Journal of Pain and Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy - Category: Palliative Care Tags: J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother Source Type: research