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Study on the efficacy and tolerability of amisulpride in medical/surgical inpatients with delirium admitted to a general hospital

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

L. Pintor ,
E. Fuente ,
E. Bailles  and
S. Matrai
L. Pintor*
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Department, Neurosciences Institute, Hospital Clínico de Barcelona, C/Roselló 140, 08036Barcelona, Spain
E. Fuente
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Department, Hospital Duran i Reynals, C/ Autovía de Castelldefells, Km 2.7 Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
E. Bailles
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Department, Neurosciences Institute, Hospital Clínico de Barcelona, C/Roselló 140, 08036Barcelona, Spain
S. Matrai
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Department, Neurosciences Institute, Hospital Clínico de Barcelona, C/Roselló 140, 08036Barcelona, Spain
*
*Corresponding author. Psychiatry Department, Neuroscience Institute, Hospital Clínico de Barcelona, C/Villarroel 170, 08036 Barcelona, Spain. Tel.: +34 93 2275477; fax: +34 93 2275477. E-mail address: lpintor@clinic.ub.es
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Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of amisulpride in medical inpatients who present with delirium.

Method

Open label prospective study with 7-day follow-up. Forty hospital inpatients with delirium were recruited, seven of whom died and two of whom refused medication. The average dose of amisulpride for delirium treatment was 200–300 mg/day. Daily assessments were performed with Delirium Rating Scale (DRS), Positive Subscale of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS-P), Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), Neurological Subscale of the UKU side effect rating scale. Variance analysis was performed through repeated measurements, with the general linear model with paired comparisons and Bonferroni correction for each measured variable.

Results

Patients showed significant improvement on the DRS from the first day of treatment DRS = 17.55 until day 7 DRS = 7.26 (F = 92.485; p < 0.001), psychotic symptoms improved from first day PANSS-P = 18.26 to last day PANSS-P = 9.35 (F = 144.83; p < 0.001). Cognitive status showed a significant improvement from day 2 MMSE = 18.71 until day 7 MMSE = 24.06 (F = 96.56; p < 0.001), and the neurological subscale of the UKU side effect rating scale showed a significant improvement the last day with respect to baseline pretreatment level (F = 7.539; p = 0.01).

Conclusions

These results suggest a good response to amisulpride in the acute phase of delirium, although further randomized controlled studies must be performed.

Keywords

DeliriumAntipsychoticsEfficacyAmisulpride
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 24 , Issue 7 , October 2009 , pp. 450 - 455
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier Masson SAS 2008

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