Abstract:
Objective To explore the relationship between intraoperative hypotension (IOH) and postoperative delirium (POD) in elderly patients undergoing hip fracture surgery.
Methods A retrospective cohort study design was adopted, and the elderly patients treated with hip fracture surgery from June 2021 to December 2025 were consecutively included. The general data, surgical and anesthesia information were collected. IOH was defined as intraoperative mean arterial pressure (MAP) < 60 mmHg or a decrease in MAP exceeding 20% of the baseline value. The cumulative duration of hypotension and area under the curve (AUC value) were calculated. POD was evaluated within 7 days after the operation using the Chinese version of the Confusion Assessment Scale. The association between IOH and POD was analyzed through univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis, and the effects of IOH duration and severity on POD were further analyzed. Stratified analysis and subgroup analysis were conducted based on the area under the hypotension curve (AUC) and hypotension duration.
Results The overall incidence of postoperative delirium was 28.5%, and the incidence of IOH was 51.3%. The incidence of POD in the hypotension group was 38.9%, which was higher than 17.5% in the non-hypotension group (P < 0.05). The incidences of depressive delirium and mixed delirium in the hypotension group were higher than those in the non-hypotension group (P < 0.05). The incidence of POD in the group with IOH duration ≥5 min was significantly higher than that in the group with IOH duration <5 min (P < 0.05). The results of multivariate logistic regression analysis, after adjusting for confounding factors, showed that IOH duration ≥5 min was an independent risk factor of POD in elderly patients undergoing hip fracture surgery (OR = 3.428, 95%CI: 1.863–6.304, P < 0.01). Subgroup analysis showed that there was no statistically significant difference in OR values among the subgroups (all P interactions > 0.05), but in the subgroups with cerebral infarction, preoperative frailty score ≥4 points, age ≥80 years, and general anesthesia, the association strength between IOH and POD was higher (P < 0.05).
Conclusions IOH is independently associated with a significantly increasing risk of POD occurrence in elderly patients undergoing hip fracture surgery, and the longer the duration, the higher the risk. Actively preventing and shortening the duration of IOH is of great clinical significance for reducing the occurrence of POD in this high-risk population.