Delirium
Conditions
Keywords
Insulin
Brief summary
Post-operative delirium happens when patients wake up from anesthesia. Patients experiencing post-operative delirium are very confused, not being able to think or function normally. These patients are hard to take care of and they tend to have more dementia as they age compared to patients who don't experience post-operative delirium. Intranasal insulin has been shown to reverse confusion associated with Alzheimer's disease (humans) and AIDS (mice). Intranasal insulin has been safely administered to 1092 patients in 38 different studies. There were no cases of clinically low blood sugar and a few cases of mild nasal irritation that happened also with salt water when the subjects received multiple intranasal doses. No one has tried to reverse post-operative delirium with intranasal insulin. The delirium associated with Alzheimer's Disease and AIDS have very similar symptoms and what happens in the brain is very similar also. The investigators intent is to administer intranasal insulin to patients exhibiting post-operative delirium in order to reverse the symptoms because the investigators think that the three disease states are closely related and intranasal insulin has had some success in reversing the delirium in the other two disease states.
Interventions
DRUGInsulin
40 IU via four activations of an intranasal spray
DRUGSaline
Four activations of an intranasal spray containing placebo (normal saline).
Sponsors
University of Kansas Medical Center
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
TRIPLE (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator)
Masking description
The investigational pharmacist will use randomization software to randomize numbers 1-30. Each number will be randomized to either active drug (regular insulin) or placebo (normal saline).The investigational pharmacist will have the randomization table should un-blinding be required.
Intervention model description
The study is double-blind, randomized, placebo controlled. Neither the physician, patient, nor investigator will be aware of which patient is receiving insulin and which is receiving placebo. The treatment group will receive 40 IU via four activations of an intranasal spray. The placebo group will receive four activations of an intranasal spray containing placebo (normal saline). Both groups of patients receiving the insulin or placebo as intervention will be assessed with the CAM assessment at 10 min, 30min, and 60 min, and 6hr.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
65 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* All patients (\>65 years of age) undergoing elective surgery using vapor anesthesia displaying post-operative delirium as defined by a CAM evaluation within time to PACU discharge post-surgery are eligible. * Those patients 65 and older undergoing surgery using vapor anesthesia, who are consented but do not exhibit delirium and are not part of the study are still considered recruited subjects, but are not in the active study.
Exclusion criteria
* Patients with a history of severe dementia, anoxic brain injury, or neuromuscular disorders * Non-English-speaking patients * Planned use of drugs that effect plasma glucose concentration during the first four hours of surgery * thiazolidinediones * hormones which may affect plasma glucose or insulin * contraceptive, diphenylhydantoin * patients with allergy to insulin * acromegaly * Cushing's syndrome * hyperthyroidism and pheochromocytoma * renal impairment * pregnant and lactating women * base line blood glucose \< 3.9 mmol/L
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Efficacy of intranasal insulin in resolving post-operative delirium | 10 min post diagnosis | Measured by administering the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) tool |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Length of stay in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) | Time from admission to the PACU until discharge from PACU, up to 18 hours from admission to the PACU |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed