Development of post-anesthesia care unit delirium is associated with differences in aperiodic and periodic alpha parameters of the EEG during emergence from general anesthesia - results from a prospective observational cohort study.

Increased alpha-band power during emergence in noPACU-D patients can be traced back to an increase in oscillatory alpha activity and an overall increase in aperiodic broadband power. Although differences between PACU-D and noPACU-D patients can be detected relying on traditional methods, the separation of the signal allows a more detailed analysis. Together this may enable clinicians to detect patients at risk for PACU-D early in the emergence phase.