Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · May 2019
Multicenter Study Observational StudyPerioperative Epidural Use and Risk of Delirium in Surgical Patients: A Secondary Analysis of the PODCAST Trial.
Postoperative delirium is an important public health concern without effective prevention strategies. This study tested the hypothesis that perioperative epidural use would be associated with decreased risk of delirium through postoperative day 3. ⋯ Postoperative epidural use was not associated with a reduced overall incidence of delirium. However, longitudinal analysis revealed reduced adjusted odds of experiencing an episode of delirium in the epidural group. Epidural use was also associated with reduced postoperative pain and opioid consumption. An appropriately designed follow-up study is warranted to further analyze the relationship among epidural use, postoperative delirium, and related outcomes.