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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Sep 1.
Published in final edited form as: Anesthesiol Clin. 2015 Jul 7;33(3):505–516. doi: 10.1016/j.anclin.2015.05.007

Table 1.

Risk factors for postoperative delirium

Predisposing factors Precipitating factors

  • Age (>65 years old)

  • Neuropsychiatric conditions

    • Cognitive dysfunction

    • Dementia

    • Depression

    • Alcohol abuse

    • History of postoperative delirium

    • History of stroke

  • Use of psychotropic medications

  • Poor physical status

  • Medical comorbidities

    • Heart failure

    • Kidney failure

    • Diabetes mellitus

    • Atrial fibrillation

    • Anemia

    • Atherosclerosis

    • Tobacco use

  • Intraoperative

    • Blood loss/Blood transfusion

    • Surgical duration

    • Surgical urgency

    • Surgical complexity

    • Invasiveness of procedure

    • Depth of anesthesia

  • Postoperative

    • Admission to an intensive care unit (ICU)

    • Increased hospital/ICU length of stay

    • Increased duration of intubation/mechanical ventilation

    • Postoperative complications

      • Infection, stroke

    • Use of physical restraints

    • Sleep disruption

    • Pain

    • Psychotropic medication use