Handover of anesthesia care is associated with an increased risk of delirium in elderly after major noncardiac surgery: results of a secondary analysis

In patients undergoing major surgery, complete handover of intraoperative anesthesia care is associated with adverse postoperative outcomes including high mortality and more major complications. The purpose of this study was to explore the association between the intraoperative complete handover between anesthesiologists and the occurrence of postoperative delirium. This was a secondary analysis of the database of a previously published clinical trial. Seven hundred patients aged 65 years or older, who were admitted to the intensive care unit after noncardiac surgery, were included. Delirium was assessed with the Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit twice daily during the first 7 postoperative days. Other postoperative outcomes were also monitored. The association between the intraoperative complete handover of anesthesia care and the development of postoperative delirium was analyzed with a logistic regression model. Of the 700 enrolled patients, 111 (15.9%) developed postoperative delirium within 7 days. After correction for confounding factors, intraoperative complete handover between anesthesiologists was associated with an increased risk of postoperative delirium (OR 1.787, 95% CI 1.012–3.155, P = 0.046). Patients with intraoperative complete handover also had higher incidence of non-delirium complications (P = 0.003) and stayed longer in hospital after surgery (P = 0.002). For elderly patients admitted to the intensive care unit after noncardiac surgery, intraoperative complete handover of anesthesia care was associated with an increased risk of postoperative delirium. Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (http://www.chictr.org.cn): ChiCTR-TRC-10000802. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00540-019-02627-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.