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The risk for developing delirium is high in hospitalized older patients (30%) especially in patients in intensive care units (ICUs; 30%–50%). In a 2019 network meta-analysis on pharmacotherapies for prevention and treatment of delirium (58 studies; NEJM JW Psychiatry May 2019 and JAMA Psychiatry 2019; 76:526), haloperidol plus lorazepam was most effective, but this finding was mostly driven by a single study. It is still unclear what medicines to choose and in which clinical setting. Now, researchers have conducted a network meta-analysis that pooled almost double the number of randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) of pharmacotherapies (108 studies) for delirium treatment (1846 patients) and prevention (28,089 patients)
Dexmedetomidine was ef…