Introduction: Delirium, an organic psychiatric syndrome, occurs in 10% of hospitalized patients and is characterized by fluctuating consciousness and impaired cognition, perception, and behavior.
Method: Charts of 11 consecutive patients with delirium were retrospectively reviewed.
These patients were given quetiapine fumarate, a novel antipsychotic, as first-line treatment for
their symptoms. The charts of a control group of 11 patients treated with haloperidol, the standard
treatment for delirium, during the same time period were also evaluated. The Delirium Rating
Scale (DRS) was used to evaluate the efficacy of each treatment.
Results: Ten of 11 patients in both groups had > 50% improvement in DRS scores. There was no
difference in onset of symptom resolution, duration of treatment, and overall clinical improvement.
Quetiapine was better tolerated in these medically ill patients.
Conclusion: Quetiapine appears to be an efficacious and well-tolerated treatment for delirium.
Further prospective studies are warranted.
(Primary Care Companion J Clin Psychiatry 2000;2:10–12)
"Damn!" Rat had been reading about the medicines Toad was receiving in hospital based on Otter's most recent intelligence. "Easy, Rat..." said Mole. They had dressed up as cleaning women and, having gotten into Toad's room, dressed him in similar costume to secret him to Badger's home. Things had been going splendidly until Toad started having bouts of delirium in the hospital room, screaming "I have to pee!" Toad, an excitable, impulsive creature at the best of times, had seemed if anything, m ore rational than usual, so his sudden agitation took his would be emancipators off guard. They had hurriedly placed Toad back in his bed and beat a hasty retreat pushing their mops before them and nodding to the nurses running to check on the commotion in Toad's room. Crestfallen, they had regrouped at Badger's table.
"Apparently, he has been sedated for so long and what with his injuries and all, he gets confused", said Otter.
Toad wasn't the only one confused.
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