The Effect of Guanfacine on Delirium in Critically Ill Patients
Status:
Recruiting
Trial end date:
2022-12-15
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Delirium in patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) is a common problem associated with
increased mortality and morbidity, including increased hospital and ICU length of stay,
greater hospital cost, increased ventilator days, and long-term cognitive disability. Various
pharmacologic agents including dopamine antagonists, acetylcholinesterase inhibitors,
melatonin, antipsychotics, alpha-2 agonists, and glutamate antagonists are used for treatment
of delirium in the ICU despite the lack of clear evidence of efficacy.Since there is no
evidence-based pharmacologic treatment of ICU delirium, current therapy is focused on
non-pharmacologic prevention techniques and pharmacologic agents are used once delirium is
established. Guanfacine, an alpha-2 agonist, has been identified as a potential medication
that may be of benefit in the treatment of delirium. The purpose of this study to investigate
the effects of guanfacine versus placebo on delirium in critically ill patients admitted to
the ICU and to determine whether guanfacine along with standard of care reduces the duration
of delirium, compared to standard of care alone.