Comparison of DRS-R-98 and 3D-CAM in the Assessment of Postoperative Delirium in Elderly Patients

Postoperative delirium (POD) is a transient and usually fully reversible altered state of consciousness that develops acutely or subacutely after surgery, characterized by widespread, daily fluctuations in brain metabolism and function. It can be seen as hyperactive (mania), hypoactive (depressive) and mixed type. It has been shown to be associated with increased morbidity, mortality, health expenditures and prolonged hospitalization in the postoperative period. In studies, the frequency of POD was found to be 17-51% in orthopedic surgery, 11-46% in cardiac surgery and 13-50% in non-cardiac surgery. There are many studies in the literature on advanced age, comorbidities (e. g; diabetes mellitus, stroke, coronary artery disease, arrhythmias), dementia, use of glasses-hearing aids, medications (anticholinergic, opioid, benzodiazepine etc. ), duration of anesthesia, type of surgery, electrolyte disturbances, perioperative bleeding, hypotension, pain and intensive care unite stay as risk factors associated with delirium. This condition, which has a multifactorial etiology, is often unrecognized, unpreventable, untreatable and leads to increased morbidity and mortality. Therefore, it is important to recognize delirium that develops in the postoperative period and to perform the necessary interventions.

There are many tests used in the diagnosis of POD. Delirium tests; it evaluates the patient under many sub-headings such as orientation, memory, attention, visual and spatial ability. The gold standard method is DSM-V (North American Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-V of Mental Disorders-V) to assess delirium status. There are also some other tests like DRS-R-98 (The Delirium Rating Scale--Revised-98) and 3D-CAM (3-minute diagnostic assessment for CAM-Confusion Assessment Method-defined delirium). In addition to patient assessment, these tests are useful for the clinician in the diagnosis of delirium. The aim of the study is to compare the DRS-R-98 and 3D-CAM tests used in the assessment of POD, and to evaluate their feasibility and the power detecting delirium.

After obtaining ethics committee approval, all patients who undergo orthopedic, urological, general surgery, thoracic and vascular surgery operations in the Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, above 65 years old, with an operation duration longer than 60 minutes will include in this study. Patients who are re-operated, require re-intubation or withdraw their consent will be excluded from the study. This study is planned as an observational, prospective study. Demographic information such as age, gender, height, weight, comorbidities, duration of operation and anesthesia, postoperative pain level, anesthesia and analgesia management, intensive care and hospitalization periods will be recorded from their files. On postoperative day 1, delirium development will be evaluated with DSM-5 diagnostic criteria. All patients will also be evaluated by another physician with both DRS-R-98 and 3D-CAM tests. The same tests will be repeated on postoperative day 2.

Inclusion criteria

• orthopedic, urological, thoracic, vascular and general surgery operations
• Emergency and elective surgery
• Patients with voluntary consent
• Patients aged ≥ 65 years
• Surgeries longer than 60 minutes

Exclusion criteria

• < 65 years old patients
• Operations that take less than 60 minutes
• Patients who do not speak Turkish
• Patients who cannot legally give consent (eg dementia)
• Patients without consent
• Outpatient surgeries
• Reoperated or reintubated patients