General hospital psychiatry
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Psychotropic drugs are not necessarily the drugs of psychiatry. Seventy percent of antidepressants, and 90% of anxiolytics are prescribed by nonpsychiatric physicians. ⋯ Seventy commonly prescribed psychotropic drugs were examined for their interactions with other psychotropic medications using six reference tools: 1) MEDLINE (PubMed) employing the first generic psychotropic drug name, the second generic psychotropic drug name, and the term "interaction;" 2) Hanston's Drug Interaction Analysis and Management Text (quarterly updated version); 3) Drug Interactions Facts (Facts and Comparisons) (July 2001 quarterly updated version); 4) Micromedex Drug-dex; 5) American Hospital Formulary Service Drug Information; and 6) Food and Drug Administration (MedWatch) (Dear Doctor Letters and new labeling) ( for (1999, 2000, and 2001). The authors recognized that all of the above sources do not necessarily cover the entire information database regarding drug-drug interactions. (Citations regarding children, reports in foreign languages or concerning food, animals, in vitro experiments, analgesics, and naturalistic-herbal or natural products-treatment interactions were excluded).
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Gen Hosp Psychiatry · Mar 2004
Early detection of postoperative delirium and confusion in a surgical ward using the NEECHAM confusion scale.
The early detection and prevention of postoperative delirium and confusion has become an important issue in surgical ward management. With the aim of determining an objective technique for early detection of delirium, 64 patients admitted to a surgical ward before surgery were examined using the NEECHAM confusion scale. ⋯ The trends of the NEECHAM scores in the 3 groups were compared, and the relationship between the NEECHAM scores and suspected clinical risk factors for delirium was investigated. Use of NEECHAM scaling enabled medical staff to identify cases of possible confusion early, indicating that the NEECHAM confusion scale should be useful for the detection of postoperative delirium and confusion in the surgical ward.