MedPage Today (9/3, George) reports, “Treating delirium with antipsychotic medications and using haloperidol (Haldol) to prevent it showed little or no benefit over placebo, a pair of systematic reviews published” online Sept. 3 in the Annals of Internal Medicine found. In fact, “across 16 randomized controlled trials and 10 observational studies, haloperidol and second-generation (a.k.a. ‘atypical’) antipsychotics to treat delirium did not differ from placebo for outcomes including sedation status, delirium duration, hospital length of stay, or mortality,” one review found. In addition, “in a separate review of 14 delirium prevention trials,” investigators found that “haloperidol did not decrease in delirium incidence or duration, hospital length of stay, or mortality relative to placebo or other comparators.”
Related Links:
— “Little Benefit for Haldol, Antipsychotics to Treat or Prevent Delirium, “Judy George, MedPage Today, September 3, 2019