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Haloperidol May Work as Delirium Prophylaxis


 

Until more is known about medical interventions for delirium, other approaches are worthy of consideration, including the use of bright or blue light for circadian rhythm disturbances, complementary and alternative medicine, and minimizing the need for restraints by using clysis and by using intramuscular injections instead of intravenous injections, he said.

“Deemphasize the idea that you have to search for an underlying cause of delirium, such as [ordering] a CT scan to look for intra-abdominal abscesses,” he said. “Looking for the common things–the drugs, the [urinary tract infections]–suffices. If the patients aren't coughing, they're not short of breath, and their oxygen saturation is fine, they probably don't need a chest CT to look for occult pneumonia as the cause of their delirium.”

'What we need to be thinking of is baseline vulnerability to delirium.' DR. LUXENBERG

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