Why should you stay one night? Prospective observational study of enhanced recovery in elderly patients

Delirium is a severe condition that can arise in many contexts during hospitalization. The aim of this research was to measure the incidence of postoperative delirium in patients aged 75 years or older, with the exclusion of those with preexisting neurocognitive disorders (NCD), who underwent fast-track, moderate surgery.

We conducted a prospective cohort study with patients ≥ 75 years of age who were eligible for fast-track, moderate surgery, without severe dementia, with a planned hospitalization of 24 h and with a physical status varying from very fit to vulnerable. The 4-item confusion assessment method (CAM4) was used to measure delirium.

Of the 209 eligible patients, 195 subjects were enrolled in the study. The percentage of the population with a CAM4 score above 0 before surgery was 2.56%; after surgery, the percentage was 10.25%; and on the following day, the percentage was 4.61%. There was a statistically significant difference in the CAM4 scores between immediately after surgery and at 24 h after surgery (p = 0.0172).

The data from this study support an enhanced recovery approach for elderly patients, in which after a minor surgical procedure with anaesthesia, a recovery period of one night in the hospital can contribute to normalizing the CAM4 score and reducing the incidence of delirium.