Millions of patients in intensive care units each year develop delirium during their hospitalization and often leave the hospital with cognitive deficits similar to those suffering from traumatic brain injury or mild Alzheimer’s disease.
For almost two decades, Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers have been studying ICU patients on ventilators and modifying their treatment to combat the debilitating effects of delirium, the sudden disruption of consciousness marked predominantly by inattention and sometimes by vivid hallucinations and delusions.