Off-Brand Antipsychotic Use on the Rise Among Seniors With Heart Surgery

A study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found more than 6 percent of seniors are administered antipsychotic medications (APMs) following heart surgery, with use of potentially harmful off-brand drugs especially pronounced, reports Cardiovascular Business . The researchers calculated that almost 10,000 such individuals are prescribed APMs annually to mitigate the delirium that often follows cardiac surgery. However, there is no proof supporting APMs as effective for treating delirium, and some studies warn the drugs can be hazardous. The researchers reviewed data from subjects 65 years and older who had underwent either coronary artery bypass surgery, heart valve surgery, or both at one of more than 700 hospitals between 2004 and 2014. Analysis found seniors were typically given APMs for about five days, with 15.5 percent of the study pool having received them for more than seven. Slightly more than 6 percent of all subjects reported having been given APMs after cardiac surgery, with haloperidol the most commonly prescribed "typical" APM. Use of off-brand APMs, especially quetiapine, seems to be on the rise. The researchers say this is troubling, "particularly in light of recent guidelines highlighting the lack of consistent evidence of the benefit of APMs for delirium and their potential harm."