Background: Every day around the world many patients receive general anesthesia to safely
undergo surgeries. Most of those patients receiving general anesthesia are elderly 65 years of age or
older. Delirium is a term meaning “sudden confusion. .” It refers to a sudden change in mental function.
It can cause people to be either aggressive and agitated or sleepy and inactive or sometimes a
combination of both. Immediately after surgery that requires anesthesia, it is normal for geriatric patients
to feel somewhat mental conusion, sleepy or a little out of normal cognition. But when patients encounter
marked deterioration in mental function such as confusion, disorientation, persistent sleepiness,
hallucinations, agitation, or aggression they might be suffering post-operative delirium