![]() Keywords: Altered mental status (AMS) cancer delirium diagnosis management Family members should be provided with counseling and support. Given the considerable distress cancer patients suffer from, clinicians must assure safety of patients with delirium and safety of the medical team caring for the patient. This includes detailed history and comprehensive physical examination together with the use of diagnostic tools, for example: Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) tool. Diagnosis of delirium requires a high index of suspicion, and a systematic assessment to confirm the diagnosis and identify the possible cause. Management of delirium requires identifying and correcting the precipitating cause if feasible. The complex nature of delirium in cancer patients and the high variability of its presentation make its diagnosis and management challenging and frequently missed. Delirium is multifactorial, as cancer patients have an array of predisposing and precipitating factors: metabolic disturbances, structural lesions, in addition to medications and infection. Altered mental status (AMS) and delirium have a high incidence rate among patients with cancer and this increases dramatically towards the end of life.
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