Effect of Dexamethasone on Post-Operative Delirium in adults following General Anaesthesia

Abstract

Objective: To determine the effect of Dexamethasone on post-operative delirium in adults following general anaesthesia among patients operated at Pakistan Navy Hospital Shifa.

Study Design: Prospective comparative study.

Place and Duration of Study: Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine Departments, Pakistan Navy Hospital Shifa, Karachi Pakistan, from Oct 2019 to Jan 2021.

Methodology: Patients operated in the main operation theatre of our hospital during the study period without any complication fulfilling the exclusion/inclusion criteria, were included in the study. They were randomly divided into two groups, with Group-A receiving 4mg Dexamethasone and other routine pre-anaesthetic medications. In contrast, Group-B just received the routine pre-anaesthetic medications but no Dexamethasone. An independent assessor assessed post-operative delirium using the Confusion assessment method (CAM).

Results: A total of 250 patients were included in the study, which met the inclusion criteria. The mean age of the study participants was 34.419±4.329 years. 27(10.8%) patients showed post-operative delirium, while 223(89.2%) did not show postoperative delirium on the Confusion assessment method. The chi-square test revealed that none of the factors studied, including the administration of pre-operative Dexamethasone, had any statistically significant relationship with the presence or absence of delirium among the target population (p-value >0.05).

Conclusion: Delirium was a fairly common finding in adult patients 24 hours after routine surgical procedures. None of the factors studied, including Dexamethasone, was related to the presence or absence of delirium in our study.