Introduction:

delirium is the most common manifestation of brain dysfunction in critically ill patients; this is a manifestation that is commonly under-identified and neglected in the ICU. Control of delirium is one of the therapeutic objectives within the ICU; however, establishing the onset time of a given drug is not yet known. Atypical antipsychotics are beginning to replace agents neuroleptics such as haloperidol for the treatment of psychiatric conditions as a result of its more favorable safety profile.

Material and methods:

the study included 80 patients under invasive mechanical ventilation for more than 24 hours and positive CAM-ICU. The main objective was to analyze the effectiveness of the use of quetiapine as a pharmacological adjuvant for the control of delirium, during weaning from sedation. Secondary objectives were the duration of delirium, use of sedoanalgesia, and time to wean from IMV.

Results:

83.8% (n = 67) of patients had adequate control of delirium. It was observed that patients who received quetiapine had an odds ratio of 1.42 (95%CI 0.38-5.22) for delirium control. 75% (n = 60) of patients with invasive mechanical ventilation received adjuvant treatment with quetiapine during their stay in the ICU. There were no significant differences in the use of quetiapine in relation to sex, age, reason for admission, surgical history, PRE-DELIRIC, days of sedation, or days of IMV.

Conclusion:

the findings suggested that quetiapine is effective for the management of delirium in ICU patients under VMI, but not superior to other pharmacological and non-pharmacological measures used in our unit.

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