China-wide study explores post-operative delirium in older people with a hip fracture.
China-wide study explores post-operative delirium in older people with a hip fracture. Older patients in hospitals across China took part in a major multi-centre open-label randomised clinical trial that showed there was no difference in post-operative delirium in older people with a hip fracture, if they had a general anaesthesia, or a regional anaesthesia. Post-operative delirium is a common, serious, neurological, complication where people have a sudden change in their brain functions after an operation. It is more common in older people, and leads to increased death, dementia, post-traumatic stress disorder, a longer length of hospital stay, extra nursing requirements and increased healthcare costs. People with a hip fracture require an operation to fix the fracture which requires anaesthesia - classified as general anaesthesia, or regional anaesthesia. A general anaesthetic technique involves inducing sleep or loss of consciousness through inhaled or intravenous anaesthetics. Regional anaesthesia involves injecting local anaesthetic inside the spine or around the nerves to prevent pain in the leg with the hip fracture.
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