DELIRIUM-CAUSES

SUMMARY

May be the only manifestation of illness, all patients should be thoroughly evaluated:

D - drugs (opioids, antidepressants, all CV drugs); drug-withdrawal (alcohol, benzodiazepines)

E - epilepsy, electrolyte imbalance

L - low oxygen (MI, PE), liver failure

I - infections (UTI, pneumonia, other causes of sepsis)

R - retention (urinary/fecal)

I - intracranial pathology (stroke, ICH, tumors)

U - uremia (renal failure)

M - metabolic causes (DKA, HHNK)

Reference(s)

Wilkinson, I., Furmedge, D. and Sinharay, R. (2017). Oxford handbook of clinical medicine. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Get it on Amazon.
Feather, A., Randall, D. and Waterhouse, M. (2020). Kumar And Clark’s Clinical Medicine. 10th ed. S.L.: Elsevier Health Sciences. Get it on Amazon.
Hannaman, R. A., Bullock, L., Hatchell, C. A., & Yoffe, M. (2016). Internal medicine review core curriculum, 2017-2018. CO Springs, CO: MedStudy.
Therapeutic Guidelines. Melbourne: Therapeutic Guidelines Limited. https://www.tg.org.au [Accessed 2021].