The Role of Emotional and Orientation Support in Prevention of Postoperative Delirium Among Elderly Surgical Patients

Postoperative delirium is common and associated with significant adverse outcomes. Its etiology is unknown, and little is known about associated risk factors. The investigatorea aim to test whether providing emotional and orientation support can reduce the risk of postoperative delirium in elderly patients undergoing elective non-cardiac surgery. Specifically, the investigators will test whether allowing such patients to keep their hearing and visual aids and be escorted into the operating room by a family member until anesthesia induction reduces the incidence of postoperative delirium. Delirium will be actively screened as part of our institution's clinical practice starting at PACU admission and for a minimum of 2 postoperative days. The investigators will use a multiple cross-over design to enroll all eligible patients and alternate between the intervention and our common practice (removing sensorial aids in the preoperative area and not allowing patients' escort beyond that point) every 2 weeks for up to 2 years.