5 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
Although there are several tools available for the screening of delirium among the medically ill, they all have some limitations. First, none of the available tools have been validated against newly developed and published DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) or ICD-10 (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems) criteria. Additionally, all the screening/diagnostic tools presently available have the same limitation, they all require significant patient involvement and participation (e.g., questions and activities) in order to complete the assessment. By definition, delirium is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by disturbance in attention and awareness, and additional disturbance in cognition (e.g., memory deficit, disorientation), language, visuospatial ability, or perception. The intrinsic characteristics of delirium seem to interfere with the patient's ability to participate and complete many of the tasks associated with delirium evaluation itself. Finally, most available tools seem to narrowly focus on some neurocognitive areas of delirium, but not being comprehensive enough. In contrast, the S-PTD is designed so it can be completed by the nursing staff caring for the patients, the medical personnel most intimately involved with the care and aware of the behaviors exhibited by the patient during the course of their hospital stay. The idea is that nurses will complete the screening tool (hence the term "by proxy"), based on the behaviors and interactions observed during the course of a conventional "nursing shift", to determine whether the patient meets current neuropsychiatric criteria for the diagnosis of delirium.
Delirium is the most often encountered psychiatric diagnosis in the general hospital, with incidence up to 85% in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting and with significant consequences on patients' morbidity and mortality. Currently, although not FDA approved, antipsychotics are often considered the first-line pharmacological treatment. However, there can be limitations to their use, including side effects or lack of efficacy. Valproic acid (VPA) is one of the alternatives at times used in such patients which from limited case series data appears to be helpful and tolerated. VPA can provide relief from agitation that poses a threat to the safety and recovery of the patient. Moreover, mechanistically it addresses the neurochemical and cellular abnormalities inherent in delirium (it has NMDA-antagonist, anti-dopaminergic, GABAergic,anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, and histone deacetylase inhibitor properties, among others). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of the VPA in the first known to us randomized controlled trial.
Delirium, as a common complication of hospitalization, poses significant health problems in hospitalized patients. Though about a third of delirium cases can benefit from intervention, detecting and predicting delirium is still very limited in practice. A common characterization of delirium is change in activity level, causing patients to become hyperactive or hypoactive which is manifested in facial expressions and total body movements. This pilot study is designed to test the feasibility of a delirium detection system using movement data obtained from 3-axis wearable accelerometers and commercially available camera with facial recognition video system in conjunction with electronics medical record (EMR) data to analyze the relation of whole-body movement and facial expressions with delirium.
The objective of this study is to determine the tolerability and safety of olanzapine administered as a subcutaneous injection to hospitalized patients with hyperactive or mixed delirium.
This is a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study of dexmedetomidine versus placebo, with lorazepam rescue, for the management of severe alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) and alcohol withdrawal delirium (AWD) in critically ill adults. The investigators hypothesize that the integration of dexmedetomidine (Precedex®) with usual therapy for the management of severe alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) and alcohol withdrawal delirium/delirium tremens (AWD) in critically ill adult patients will reduce the time to resolution of AWS/AWD, increase the number of delirium-free and ventilator-free days in the first 28 days of hospitalization, reduce the length of ICU and hospital stays, and improve neurocognitive and quality of life scores on hospital discharge.