Moderate hypercapnia may not contribute to postoperative delirium in patients undergoing bronchoscopic intervention

This study aimed to investigate the risk factors and whether acute hypercapnia contributes to postoperative delirium (POD) during bronchoscopic intervention under general anesthesia or deep sedation. A prospective study was conducted with 119 consecutive patients who had undergone bronchoscopic intervention between February 2016 and December 2016 at the Emergency General Hospital. Twenty-eight patients (23.8%) were diagnosed with POD. The patients were divided into 2 groups: the POD (n = 28) and the control group (n = 91). The mean age of the POD group was higher than that of the control group (P < .01). All the blood gas values, PaCO(2) (P < .01), PaO(2) (P < .01), and PH (P < .01), were significantly different. Multivariate analyses revealed that age (P < .01), operation duration (P = .01), and PO(2) (P = .01) were independent predictive factors of POD, while hypercapnia (P = .54) was established as not being a predictive factor of POD. Age, operation duration, and PO(2) were determined as independent predictive factors of POD, whereas moderate hypercapnia is not likely to contribute to POD in patients undergoing bronchoscopic intervention. Clinical Trial Registration Identifier: ChiCTR-POC-15007483.