Delirium Treatment With Acupuncture in Internal Medicine Departments

Bnai Zion Medical Center

Status

Completed

Conditions

Delirium in Old Age

Treatments

Other: Acupuncture

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT03398928

0102-14-BNZ

Details and patient eligibility

About

Delirium frequently occurs in hospitalized older people, and treatment options are limited. Acupuncture has been shown to reduce agitation in the setting of dementia. The investigators will test the hypothesis that it may also assist in treating delirium.

Full description

This randomized-controlled trial aims to evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture integrated with standard care as compared to standard care only for the treatment of delirium in hospitalized older persons.

Patients aged 65 and older, hospitalized in the internal medicine departments of Bnai Zion Medical Center and diagnosed with delirium or subsyndromal delirium will be randomized to either true acupuncture with usual care, or usual care only. Daily treatments and outcomes' follow-up will be conducted up to one week from recruitment or until resolution of delirium or subsyndromal delirium for 48 hours. The primary outcome will be delirium resolution evaluated as time-to-first delirium remission (over 7 days) and the number of days spent delirium-free.Side effects will be monitored daily.

Enrollment

81 patients

Sex

All

Ages

65+ years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Hospitalized in internal medicine department
Aged over 65 years
Delirium or subsyndromal delirium within the last 48 hours

Exclusion criteria

Platelet count under 20x10^9/L
Encephalopathy explained by a cause other than delirium (acute stroke, alcohol, cirrhosis, etc.)
History of severe dementia
Communication barriers preventing delirium assessment