Individual risk profiles for postoperative delirium after joint replacement surgery.

Background: Delirium occurs in nearly half of older patients after joint replacement surgery. However, risk profiles for developing delirium have not been established.

Objective: We sought to identify risk profiles for delirium in patients following joint replacement surgery.

Administration of olanzapine to prevent postoperative delirium in elderly joint-replacement patients: a randomized, controlled trial.

Background: Delirium is a serious postoperative condition for which few pharmacologic prevention trials have been conducted.

Objective: The authors tested the efficacy of perioperative olanzapine administration to prevent postoperative delirium in elderly patients after joint-replacement surgery.

Method: The authors conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, prophylaxis trial at an orthopedic teaching hospital, enrolling 495 elderly patients age ≥65 years, who were undergoing elective knee- or hip-replacement surgery; 400 patients received either 5 mg of orally-disintegrating olanzapine or placebo just before and after surgery.