Researchers have discovered that it is possible to predict delirium or hallucinations after surgeries through a simple eye examination that reveals the thickness of one of the parts of the retina, which may help identify patients most vulnerable to this condition after surgery.
The study was conducted by researchers from the Shanghai Mental Health Hospital in China, and its results were published in the Journal of General Psychiatry in April, and the Yurrick Alert website was written about.
The importance of the study is that it provides a non -interventional method of early detection of patients who may suffer from delirium after surgery, which may help improve care and avoid long -term complications.
The delirium affects elderly patients after surgeries, and it is a common and serious complication, and often leads to an extension of the hospital residence period, increased need for long -term care, and increased the risk of cognitive degradation and dementia.
An extensive study on old patients
The researchers conducted this study with 169 patients, 65 years old and over who underwent surgeries such as hip or knee joint, kidney and prostate surgeries at the tenth Shanghai Hospital of the people in China. As part of their evaluation before surgery, the participants underwent an eye imaging test using visual tomography to measure the thickness of an area called the stain in the retina, which is responsible for the accurate and focused vision.
The results showed that 40 patients (about 24% of the participants) suffered from delirium after surgery, and they had a great thickness in the macro -layer in the right eye compared to others. The study also found that the thicker Baqi layer before surgery in the right eye was associated with an increase in the risk of delirium after surgery and increased the severity of the condition. Interestingly, the study did not find any such link in the left eye, something that researchers have not been able to explain yet.
The role of this discovery in medical care
The researchers note that the eye test using optical tomography can become an effective examination tool to detect patients most vulnerable to delirium after anesthesia and surgery, who may need preventive treatment before surgery.
Despite the importance of the results, the study has many restrictions, including that the number of participants in the study was a little, and not taking some possible potential factors into consideration, and this requires broader studies to confirm the results.