AUTHOR=Huang Jian , Zheng Hui , Zhu Xianfeng , Zhang Kai , Ping Xiaofeng 

TITLE=The efficacy and safety of haloperidol for the treatment of delirium in critically ill patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2023.1200314

DOI=10.3389/fmed.2023.1200314

ISSN=2296-858X

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1"><title>Purpose</title><p>Delirium is common during critical illness and is associated with poor outcomes. Therefore, we conducted this meta-analysis to investigate the efficacy and safety of haloperidol for the treatment of delirium in critically ill patients.</p></sec><sec id="sec2"><title>Methods</title><p>Randomized controlled trials enrolling critically ill adult patients to compare haloperidol with placebo were searched from inception through to February 20th, 2023. The primary outcome were delirium-free days and overall mortality, secondary outcomes were length of intensive care unit stay, length of hospital stay, and adverse events.</p></sec><sec id="sec3"><title>Results</title><p>Nine trials were included in our meta-analysis, with a total of 3,916 critically ill patients. Overall, the pooled analyses showed no significant difference between critically ill patients treated with haloperidol and placebo for the delirium-free days (MD −0.01, 95%CI −0.36 to 0.34, <italic>p</italic> = 0.95, <italic>I</italic><sup>2</sup> = 30%), overall mortality (OR 0.89, 95%CI 0.76 to 1.04, <italic>p</italic> = 0.14, <italic>I</italic><sup>2</sup> = 0%), length of intensive care unit stay (MD −0.06, 95%CI −0.16 to 0.03, <italic>p</italic> = 0.19, <italic>I</italic><sup>2</sup> = 0%), length of hospital stay (MD −0.06, 95%CI −0.61 to 0.49, <italic>p</italic> = 0.83, <italic>I</italic><sup>2</sup> = 0%), and adverse events (OR 0.90, 95%CI 0.60 to 1.37, <italic>p</italic> = 0.63, <italic>I</italic><sup>2</sup> = 0%).</p></sec><sec id="sec4"><title>Conclusion</title><p>Among critically ill patients, the use of haloperidol as compared to placebo has no significant effect on delirium-free days, overall mortality, length of intensive care unit and/or hospital stay. Moreover, the use of haloperidol did not increase the risk of adverse events.</p></sec>