Causes of Delirium to Consider in Specific Patient Groups
Patient group | Common causes |
---|---|
Older patient in emergency dept | Acute infection Adverse effect of medication Electrolyte disorder Stroke Subdural haematoma |
Younger patient in emergency dept | Alcohol intoxication Poisoning with cocaine, amphetamine and other psychoactive drugs Primary neurological disorder (e.g. encephalitis) |
Older patient with delirium after surgery | Acute infection Adverse effect of medication Urinary retention Faecal impaction |
Patient from psychiatric hospital | Neuroleptic malignant syndrome Primary neurological disorder (e.g. encephalitis, brain tumour) |
Patient with alcohol use disorder | Alcohol intoxication or withdrawal Wernicke encephalopathy Decompensated chronic liver disease Acute infection (e.g. pneumonia, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis) |
Patient with cancer | Adverse effect of medication (e.g. opioid toxicity) Brain or meningeal metastases Electrolyte disorder (e.g. hyponatraemia, hypercalcaemia) Paraneoplastic effect |
Reference: Oxford Clinical Diagnosis and Treatment eds Davey & Sprigings, OUP 2018. Reproduced with permission.