How to get past delirium faster, after 3 times under anesthesia?

I’m a retired Trauma ICU dietitian, so (disclaimer here) my comments below are from my work experiences as well as from caring for my own parents, one of whom went through this 8 yrs ago when dementia was mild-moderate. I am not a doctor. Anesthesia medications are cleared from the body via the kidneys and liver. Any impairment of either organ can slow the clearance and prolong the delirium. I’m told even with healthy organs it can take up to 6 mos, depending on the patient’s baseline function and age.
That said, if kidney and heart function are good, and lungs are healthy, encourage fluids, and yes, try to get the patient back to familiar surroundings AND familiar routines.
Patience and loving care are also vital.

I hope this helps someone.

My mom is 78 and had to have 2 shoulder surgeries within a two week period last year. She was fine after the first surgery but suffered severe delirium from the anesthesia after the second. It was so frustrating because the hospital was insisting she had dementia. She also went to a rehab facility after the second surgery. My mom does not suffer from dementia so the delirium was scary…she was hallucinating, kept trying to pull off the shoulder dressing and IV, not sleeping, aggressive, didn’t know where she was, etc.

She did not take any medication for it. It lasted for about 3-4 days and then she slowly got back to normal.

Hope this helps and prayers for your dad :)

Delirium happens quickly, over hours or days, and usually lasts for a short time. Sometimes, it may last for weeks or even months.

Thinking problems, Alzheimer's or any other type of dementia can complicate.
Seen this many many times.

In some cases, the new level of confusion can become the new ongoing level of functioning.

Wait & see. Be hopeful. Encourage him to sleep at night, take naps as required, eat & hydrate well.

Confused or disorientated people fall more so avoiding falls now becomes an important aim.

I hope things improve for your Father soon.

I am responding to Dupedwife here. Just want to know if the rest of us agree with what she wrote because I don't.

If Moms doctor had looked at her history, she would not have been given the antibiotic with penicillin in it that she was allergic to. Right there in their records. My Uncle, while in rehab, was prescribed a med that almost killed him and reason why he was in rehab. TG he asked the nurse what she was putting in his IV. A doctor prescribed that med, must not have looked at the hospital records and saw thats what landed him in the hospital and almost killed him. Moms urologist wanted to scope Mom after 5 years of being cancer free. She was over 85.

There are doctors that have no idea what prescriptions counteract others. But your Pharmacist does and catches it. Be very aware of the health field. It is all about money. Have all the info you need to make decisions about your care and LOs care.

My mom did very well with Seroquel. There was a significant improvement in her behavior. As Caldenia mentioned, drugs will take awhile before they are completely able to become effective. So, give it a chance to work.

Also, please remember that everyone responds differently to medication so if it isn’t working speak with his doctor to see if he needs a different dosage or a different medication.

Wishing you and your dad all the best.

Mom is out of hospital/rehab for 2 weeks {double pneumonia, sepsis} and still in a much higher level dementia. Before the hospital she was a much lower stage. She now walks around confused all day {LBD}. Her doctor says this may never change. Mom did stop the picking at everything. She was out of her assisted living for 4 weeks..Back 2 weeks..sometimes the cure is worse than the illness outcome. Moms quality of life is gone. She was happy before this “cure”.

You might want to get a list of meds used before, during and post anesthesia. Many of the drugs commonly used can have profound effects especially on short-term memory (notably midazolam aka versed, but also ketamine a dissociative relatated to phencyclidine aka PCP, angel dust, hog, etc). The effects of these may persist a bit hours/days but are typically "reversible". Having a list of possible drug "culprits" from these recent 3 anesthetics would be helpful for planning any anesthetic needed in the future.

Check medication changes. Every time a doctor entered mom’s hospital room they added another hypertensive medication.

She ended up on impossibly high dosages of drugs that had interaction warnings.

Her PC told me “this is aging, you are in denial.” I followed my gut.

I charted out all the medications, dosages, warnings and interactions. You can do this using public information online. Mom was lucky she didn’t die from all those drugs.

I worked with a (new) doctor to wean her - this took months to do safely - and her cognition was completely restored.

Its also possible that this may be from the anesthesia alone. Medication can remain in the body for a long time.

Try to encourage lots of water. You are helping him through a drug overdose and this will help flush his system.

Do not expect any of the involved physicians to admit, criticize each other or see any potential fault.

I have no dementia, am perfectly fine mwntally, and handle anesthesia just fine. Nevertheless, it takes me about a month to shake off all the effects of it, such as brain fog and hair loss.

The first time I had general anesthesia was when I was 36, then again at about 47, and again last year at 61 when I had it twice in a week. I'd say I came through it faster at 61 than at 47, so there's no rhyme or reason to the timeline of shaking it off.

When dementia's involved, you don't always get over it all the way no matter what.

Yes, this is very common, and one of the reasons to fear anesthesia in the elderly. Use your search engine to type in "anesthesia and dementia in the elderly" or "anesthesia and delirium in the elderly" and you will find a lot of information online.
Whether this will be long lasting, permanent, or transitory only time will tell, but the longer it lasts the more chance that this will continue. I am so sorry.
Your best information regarding this now is the MD involved in your father's care at this time.