Statins May Cause Postoperative Delirium
Statins may increase risk of postoperative delirium in elderly patients according to a recent article published by the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Delirium is a sudden and severe change in cognitive function causing confusion, inability to concentrate, and sometimes hallucinations. It is commonly experienced after surgery in people over 70, and it can cause delayed recovery, increased hospital costs, and anxiety for the patient. Sometimes the patient never fully recovers and stays at a permanent level of dysfunction.
The study looked back at the medical records of over 280,000 patients in Ontario who were 65 or older and went in for elective surgery. About 7 percent of patients were using statins and just over 1 percent, or 3195 patients, experienced postoperative delirium. 1 in 90 patients using statins before their surgery experienced post-delirium, showing the risk to be 30 percent higher than those not using statins. The correlation seemed to be greater for patients using higher doses of statins and undergoing a longer surgery time. The risk between statins and delirium was not seen in any other cholesterol lowering drugs.
One theory is that statins may cause altered blood flow within the brain which would cause a temporary lack of oxygen to neurons and predispose patients to delirium. This shift in blood is produced by a change in endothelial nitric oxide synthase within small blood vessels. This is an effect caused by statins, which is not even related to lowering cholesterol or preventing heart disease.
Even though the percentage of people experiencing this is on the low end, it would affect many people due to the large number of elderly patients taking statins and undergoing surgery. One recommendation or compromise is to stop taking statins a few days before surgery and restart after.
9. October 2008 at 2:52 am :
I returned from europe in april. after driving from LA x to the palm springs, ca area, i could hardly get out of the car to walk to the front door. i have never experience anything like that before. i had just turned 70. guess i thought it was age but it came on so quickly. well, it is now october. i became very worried as when i sat down, i was having difficulty getting up and couldn’t just take off walking. if was as if my brain wasn’t telling me to walk. once i started walking, i was fine. i had polio when i was 5 and i do wear a brace now as i have post polio symdrome. however, thiscondition came on me so quickly. i had been on lipitor, welchol and zetia. well, i immediately stopped lipitor thinking maybe that was it. then i stopped zetia and welchol. could those drugs have contributed to my problem and if so can it be reversed? i have had blood tests, nerve ending tests, mri of the and am taking pt for a month. since i had polio that complicates the situation. but i am frustrated to think that these statins might have caused my problem. thanks you i look forward to reading what you have to say.