My husband fell and broke his hip late Saturday. He had surgery Sunday 3/6. 24 hours after

[Ziggysmom]

surgery now, he is suffering from delirium, agitation and confusion. This evening he kept forgetting who I was and kept babbling, often incoherently. He would yell and thrash in bed, yelling "help me" over and over. The doctor ordered Seroquel; he calmed and finally fell asleep after taking it.

I'm really worried and afraid this dementia will not clear. Has anyone here had experience with this sort of issue?

[elleng]

1. I haven't had such experience. Good luck to you all.

I will resume taking meds for osteoporosis.

[Ziggysmom]

3. Thanks, EllenG. He has COPD and most likely got dizzy & fell due to a low blood oxygen level.

Preventing osteoporosis is extremely important for women and men over 50; I am also working to prevent it since women in my family have been. severely affected.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

2. Wouldn't he be on some pretty heavy drugs after a major surgery, like maybe morphine?

What does the doctor think?

Hope he gets back to normal soon Sorry you're going through this.

[halobeam]

4. I am sorry for what you both are going through.

I do recall hearing about this type of reaction after surgery from others. What is his Dr telling you?

From my understanding, this may quite be temporary. What’s your husband’s age? That might be a factor in his reaction. I hope you get some straight answers. Not knowing is very tough, I know. I wish you both all the best, I’ll light a candle and think positive thoughts! Hugs

[calimary]

7. I hope it's temporary.

Gonna say a prayer.

[Tetrachloride]

5. my mother had sedative available for nightmares. it worked the one time

that it was needed.

[Hamlette]

6. I had a similar incident after my hip surgery

I got paranoid about having a fever/infection and cross examined every nurse or doctor who came in the room. They told me the next day I was pretty nutso.

I was fine the next day

[littlemissmartypants]

8. There's a condition called Hospital Psychosis

AKA ICU psychosis.

What Is ICU Psychosis?

ICU Psychosis is not often discussed, but unfortunately, it is rather common in those who are intensive care units or similar facilities for five days or more. But, you might wonder, what is ICU psychosis? If you came across this article not knowing much about what psychosis is or why this temporary form of psychosis occurs, this blog post should answer your questions. In this blog post, we will cover ICU psychosis in-depth and its treatment, symptoms, prevention, and how it differs from long-term psychotic disorders like Schizophrenia.

Snip...

ICU Psychosis Definition

What is ICU psychosis? First, ICU stands for "intensive care unit." ICU psychosis, also called ICU delirium or hospital psychosis, is a temporary form of psychosis that occurs when someone is in an intensive care unit or another similar setting. In other words, ICU psychosis is a type of psychosis defined by the APA definition of psychosis that is listed above. Still, it occurs specifically in ICU units or similar medical units. Most of the time, people are in intensive care units because they are seriously ill with an infection, heart problems, or because they need specific and unique care. ICU psychosis can be caused by a number of things that may occur in an ICU unit or a similar place. Potential causes of ICU psychosis include but are not limited to stress, feelings that one has lost control over their life, lack of orientation, sleep disturbance or sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, constant medical monitoring that is disruptive to the individual, infections, critical illness, side effects from medical treatments, or dehydration.

As you can see, many of these factors would be considered environmental. That is why many intensive care units are taking steps to minimize these risk factors. The good news about ICU psychosis or psychosis caused by any of the above is that it does go away.

ICU Psychosis Symptoms

Symptoms of ICU psychosis may include but aren't limited to:

•Hallucinations (such as seeing or hearing things that aren't there)
•Delusions (firmly held false beliefs)
•Clouding of consciousness
•Paranoia
•Abnormal behavior
•Agitation
•Severe anxiety
•Disorientation
•Nightmares

More here
https://www.mind-diagnostics.org/blog/psychosis/what-is-icu-psychosis

It may not be what he's suffering from but it might be worth it to read about it. I wish you both the best. ❤️

[Midnight Writer]

24. Went through this when my Dad had emergency hip replacement. He did come out of it.

Took a couple of days, but he got back to his normal. He was 87 years old and had heart failure and diabetes, but the hip replacement was remarkably (to me) successful. He was walking around within 48 hours and even going up and down stairs.

The doctors and nurses seemed unsurprised by it. He was yelling and even punched a nurse who leaned over his bed. Very upsetting to witness. When he "came out of it", he didn't remember any of it.

[LuckyLib]

9. At 92, my mother fell and broke her elbow. It was a

traumatic event, as she had to use a Life Alert system to summon help. The fire department had to break in to her garage where she had fallen. After transport, she had surgery. For days after she was paranoid, delusional, and could not communicate rationally. Doctors assured us that this was common, that each day would get better. She slowly got back to normal, and did not recall any of the strange behavior. Seven years later, (yes, she’s 99) she was recently hospitalized for a severe bladder infection. High doses of antibiotics and other medications produced the same behaviors—she was not herself. Anger, fear, paranoia, etc. It took almost a week until she began to calm down. Seroquel was prescribed. Fear in the elderly, even with a good support system, is difficult to deal with. The trauma of an accident or illness can be frightening for all involved.
Time will really help your husband. Take care and consult with nurses — they have seen it all.

[claudette]

10. Not sure of

his age but general anesthesia causes strange reactions in older people. My father had gall bladder surgery and was out of it for two days but he was fine after that.

[catchnrelease]

12. Similar for my dad years ago

He was 90 and fell breaking his femur. After the surgery to repair he was really out of it. He did know all of our family but was talking about watching the train go by his window, but he was on the second floor. Lots of weird rambling. Fighting to leave his bed and remove his gown until he had to be restrained and so on. He did improve over a few weeks. I was told at the time that older people often are like this after anesthesia and that now the drs are supposed to be very selective about which drugs they use for elders to avoid those issues.

[claudette]

18. Yes

My Dad who was 80 at the time, kept telling me to go get the car because he was leaving the hospital during one of my visits to him. And just rambling on mostly. Fortunately it didn’t last long and he didn’t remember it at all after that. It seems they should try to address this problem with older patients.

[BadgerMom]

11. At 95, my dad broke his hip.

He didn’t have surgery for 2 or 3 days because of swelling. During that time, he was heavily medicated which seemed the only humane option actually. My mom had me fly from Connecticut to California to be with her because my dad was behaving so erratically. Usually a polite gentleman, he was cursing at hospital staff and yelling at Mom to get him out of the hospital. Between worry over his hip and processing this new and unwelcome verbal abuse, she needed moral support. When I arrived I was taken aback. This wasn’t the dad I knew and loved. However, after his surgery, although he was still drugged, the drugs were different and he returned to his usual wonderful self.
I hope your husband’s behavior improves soon, too.

Sending good thoughts to you.

[applegrove]

13. Yes my mom went nuts after she was in emergency once. They added an anti psychotic to her meds at

Last edited Tue Mar 7, 2023, 08:43 AM - Edit history (3)

that point. She was fine after that. She had Parkinsons' and died of that but she was never lashing out. Not delusional until the dementia at the very end when parkinsons' was at its worst. The meds worked.

[wackadoo wabbit]

14. How old is your husband? ... n/t

[Ziggysmom]

16. He is older than me, 73. Hoping it can clear up and not be permanent. Now going

into second postop day, he is still confused and at times agitated.

[tanyev]

15. Mom fell and broke her ankle when she was 93.

There was some disorientation after her surgery and I was really concerned about leaving her at the nursing home while she healed and got physical therapy, but after about a week her mental functioning was back to where it was before she fell, and she understood where she was and why she was there.

[sinkingfeeling]

17. Sorry, but my 95 year old mother broke her hip in 2015. She had the surgery and by

the time I drove 1400 miles to see her, she did not know who I was. I stayed in Florida a week and my sister called me when I was within 30 miles of returning home to tell me mom had passed.

[Grey]

19. Yes, I had this exact reaction after my surgery.

Last edited Tue Mar 7, 2023, 04:00 PM - Edit history (1)

I was "out of it" for 26 days. There were several complications I won't go into, but yes, it happens. Don't take anything he says too seriously, I know I babbled a lot of nonsense. The Doctor assured me that most people don't remember anything about their time in delirium. I remember bits and pieces but the rest is a blur. Then one day it cleared away and I was back to my normal boring self. Take care of your self and get enough rest.

Edited to add: When I "woke up" I had great holes in my memory, I called it "a swiss cheese brain" that went on for months. Things I should have known but had no memory of it. Like how to roll over in bed, My way around town, I had no idea where the post office was, I have lived in this town for 40 years, How old my brother was or his birthday. Just silly stuff.
cheers.

[irisblue]

20. Ziggysmom, how are things now?

[Ziggysmom]

21. Hi irisblue. He remains agitated and confused. The physical therapists tried to work with

him, but he just kept yelling, "Get out". He even seems to get more agitated and upset when he sees me, so I've come home now. I'm just so worried the longer he remains like this, that it could be permanent. The nurses and doctors say to give it time, so I'm just waiting and praying and feeling helpless. Gave myself a dandy migraine now from lack of sleep and stress

[irisblue]

23. Oh Sweetie.... hugs... You got another person who can take care of you for today?

[Ziggysmom]

25. Thanks, Dear. I took the afternoon off work and I'm resting with my two kitties

next to me. Have a daughter and step-son close by if I need help.

[Fresh_Start]

22. My mom had delirium 2 times after hospitalization

First time she recovered when she was moved out of icu to a normal room w a wonderful nurse

Second time was in december....I had her in my house forecasters weeks...and it helped..but moving her back into her house surrounded by her things eventually clears the remaining confusion

She is 84 and has memory problems but the delirium was completely different

[Ziggysmom]

26. THANK YOU to everyone for the kind words and insight. Sounds like this problem is

Much more common than I realized.