Treatment
If your loved is diagnosed with ICU delirium, the next step is to try to find out what may have caused it.
Sometimes the cause of the delirium isn't known. There are some strategies your ICU team may look at to help your loved one's symptoms:
- Treat any medical causes for the delirium, such as an infection or withdrawal.
- Review the medicines your loved one is taking. It is possible that some of these medicines may be causing the delirium.
- Make sure pain is assessed and treated. Pain may be treated with medicines or therapies such as massage or relaxation techniques.
- Assist your loved one with daily breathing exercises (if the patient is on a breathing machine).
- Provide your loved one with a special physiotherapist who is trained to move ICU patients. Movement will improve their breathing and muscle strength.
- Try to encourage a regular sleep routine to help reduce day/night confusion.
- Involve families in daily care and encourage involvement in all the activities listed above.
Prevention
ICUs in Alberta do their best to prevent ICU delirium. They also watch for signs of ICU delirium while patients are in the hospital. This helps prevent problems that can develop in the hospital and after patients go home.
Hospitals across the world are working to prevent ICU delirium by using best practices that include:
- getting patients up and moving earlier
- using the safest medicines to treat pain
- avoiding medicines that can cause delirium
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checking for and diagnosing delirium early
