Could this trauma set Dementia off ?

[margaret 21]

Mum aged 81 was admitted into hospital in April for pain and restrictive movement in her left leg and to cut along story short after many weeks of rehabilitation and numerous pain medication the hospital failed to diagnose mum with a fractured Hip
She finally had a full hip replacement on 13th June which as gone well.
Since spending all this time in hospital she as become a total different person - agitated -confused- crying. They have no placed her onto a ward for dementia patients to assess her.
I feel the mum I took into hospital in April has been lost during this traumatic time.
As any one experienced a relative going into hospital totally fine and then end up being treated for dementia

 

[nicoise]

Dear Margaret21,

When I read your post, I thought of delirium - it has many symptoms similar to dementia.

If you read the following link, the NICE guidance on delirium, you'll see that hip fracture has a high risk for delirium:

http://www.nice.org.uk/cg103

http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/Acute-Confusional-State.htm

Obviously I'm not medical and could be going down completely the wrong path, but it was something my mum suffered from.

 

[scared daughter]

Any illness can alter your mental state, with dementia an illness will make it plummet and free fall, but any illness can cause someones capacity to fail them.

If it is just dehydration, or infection or any other cause, once the problem is sorted you might find normal functions return. My mums dementia is in free-fall at the moment she has had a broken bone and a UTI both of which have exacerbated her symptoms. I am ever hopeful she might get back some of what she has lost as she recovers.

Hope that helps xx

 

[Witzend]

Mum aged 81 was admitted into hospital in April for pain and restrictive movement in her left leg and to cut along story short after many weeks of rehabilitation and numerous pain medication the hospital failed to diagnose mum with a fractured Hip
She finally had a full hip replacement on 13th June which as gone well.
Since spending all this time in hospital she as become a total different person - agitated -confused- crying. They have no placed her onto a ward for dementia patients to assess her.
I feel the mum I took into hospital in April has been lost during this traumatic time.
As any one experienced a relative going into hospital totally fine and then end up being treated for dementia

Your poor old mum. So dreadful that the hip wasn't picked up quickly. Have they checked (properly) for a UTI?

 

[justjimjams]

Many similarities

Dear Margaret,

I am so very sorry to hear of your dear Mum's experiences and the pain you must have gone through too. What your mum went through briught back memories...Many many years ago, when I was a nurse, we saw this such a lot.. older folk who through misfortune required surgery/treatment in hospital. We would initially do a general assessment of not just their physical state but the general demeanour .. mental/emotional etc etc. they would often be found fine in the latter department but after their surgery.. somehow they would deteriorate, not always immediately it has to be said - but often a gradual decline into a dementia-type state. I saw it over and over again. It was not everyone over a certain age you understand, but a goodly proportion. We nurses wondered at the time whether it was a combination of dislocation from familiar surroundings (habitat & function) plus anaesthesia factors...

My own dear mum had horrendous pain in her last year, at 86 I was ever so worried when they offered to alleviate the pain with hip replacement.. They gave her a spinal anaesthetic which I hoped would have less impact on her..especially since she was already having significant memory probs. but she was in so much pain, I suggested she go ahead with it..

To my greatest upset my mum has reacted the same as yours... She is not the same, not the mum I had always expected to her to be.

Part of me wishes I had never suggested she go ahead - but then she would have been in aweful pain for the remainder of her life..

I think the change of environment, away from the routine and familiar is the greatest culprit imho.

That said, it is early days, and if you can get your mum back into her normal routines then she may recover her old ways again xxx

 

[Nebiroth]

This could be:

The ongoing effects of the general anaesthetic which was used during the hip operation. Delirium following a GA is quite common, and can happen to people of any age, but the older you are the more likely it is, and it will also tend to last longer and be more severe. Elderly brains are like elderly bodies, they simply cannot cope with things so well and they take longer to recover from things.

Your mum will also be quite likely to have been on strong pain medication. Obviously this is to relieve post-operative pain but it willalso be given to enable her to be up and moving more quickly, which is very important. Hospitals want patients sitting upright at leasts very quickly, and preferably moving as well. With hip replacements the sooner you can start to move about the better and faster you will regain mobility.
Being upright and moving also helps to prevent chest infections. The mediation may be actual morphine, but it could also be one of the opiate types like tramadol (which is notorious for the effects it can have in the elderly - it gave my mum terrible panic attacks)

Howeover, it is also possible that all the stress and trauma of the operation, plus that of being in hospital, GA etc, have exposed a mental deficit of some sort that was always present but not immediately obvious whilst your mum was unstressed and in her home surroundings.

 

[Linbrusco]

Sorry to hear about your Mum Margaret.
My Mum had surgery in January for early stage bowel cancer. Had never had anesthetic in her life let alone been in hospital apart from having babies.
Although prior to surgery she was confused and forgetful, it has taken a marked turn for the worse since her surgery. Even now 6 mths later there has been no improvement just a steady decline.
She cannot remember one single thing from her time in hospital, but insists that she hated the food

 

[margaret 21]

During this long spell mum was put on Tramadol which sent her psychotic , wanting to jump out of windows , then she was put on Morphine pain patches which she reacted to. so when her hip was finally discovered we warned them about the effects of certain medication but still they gave her morphine related drugs and even lied to us and told us she was only on paracetamol, I might look daft but I hate being deceived especially when the care of my mother is concerned.
Now the ward she is on is treating her for anxiety and have put her on lorazapram but keep altering the times she is having it .
I lost my dad to Alzheimer's last June so hoping we are not fully back on this journey again.
We are suppose to be taking mum to Greece in over 4 weeks time so really hoping there will be some improvement as she will be devastated if she can not go .

 

[margaret 21]

Just a update - mum ended up on a ward for dementia patients and wasn't fit to go away on holiday with us so she has been placed in a lovely residential home. Mum has been there nearly a month and it is unlikely she will be able to return home to her bungalow.
She appears to have settled despite looking for her mum and sisters all the time.I am aware we are going down the same path as we did with dad so all the signs are there at the moment .
We have started legal proceedings for the mis-diagnoised fractured hip and the trauma she has gone through since april.