Postoperative Delirium: Brain Vulnerability and Recovery

Delirium Clinical Trial

Official title: Postoperative Delirium: Brain Vulnerability and Recovery

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

In this study, we propose to use EEG and a brain imaging technique known as diffuse optical tomography (DOT) to study when people are in delirium and when they recovery. We plan to also compare brain function of patients who recovered from delirium to patients who did not have delirium using DOT and fMRI. We will also continually monitor the participant's EMR to help coordinate timing of study procedures, as well as to collect information pertaining to their surgery, recovery progress, and indicators of mental status including delirium.

Clinical Trial Description

Postoperative delirium - a mental state of confusion, inattention, and impaired thought - is a potentially life-threatening condition. As many as half of patients that have heart and non heart-related surgery will experience postoperative delirium. Patients diagnosed with postoperative delirium have poorer outcomes and longer hospitalizations. Unfortunately, it is an under-diagnosed condition with a variable delay in when it appears. Additionally, there are no objective tools or tests that can be before or after surgery to anticipate and identify those patients who are at risk. Electroencephalography [EEG] and functional magnetic resonance imaging [fMRI] have helped us understand the changes in the brain during delirium. These suggest that a weakening in correlated activity within a group of brain regions, known as the default mode network (DMN), may be related to delirium. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Delirium
• Postoperative Complications

• NCT number: NCT03110185
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Washington University School of Medicine
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: November 25, 2015
• Completion date: March 8, 2019