BACKGROUND/AIMS: Despite the presence of several diagnosis scales for delirium, 
no prediction scale that is specific for postoperative delirium after abdominal 
surgery is available. We sought to create a novel delirium prediction system 
that is specific for abdominal surgery.
METHODS: This study included 213 consecutive patients who required management in 
the surgical ICU following abdominal surgery. The Neelon and Champagne (NEECHAM) 
Confusion score was monitored throughout the postoperative course and patients 
with low NEECHAM score (≤26) were diagnosed as having delirium.
RESULTS: Seventy-three patients (34%) were categorized in the delirium group. 
Multivariate analyses indicated that an age >70 years, hypertension, those 
undergoing hepatopancreatobiliary or upper gastrointestinal surgeries, a serum 
albumin level <2.5 g/dl on postoperative day (POD) 3 or 5 and a ≥6 mEq/l gap in 
the serum sodium level between the preoperative value and that on POD 3 were 
independently associated with a low NEECHAM score (≤26). When the presence of 
each risk was counted as 1 point, 21 patients had ≥4 points and 15 of them (71%) 
had low NEECHAM score.
CONCLUSION: The scoring system combining multiple risk factors may be useful for 
predicting patients with an elevated risk for postoperative delirium after 
abdominal surgery.