Preface

Ever since the very first successful solid organ transplants, transplantation-related science has displayed exponential growth. Physicians and researchers from many specialties are becoming more involved in transplantation medicine, which has exceeded the boundaries of one medical specialty and become a whole new field of medical science. There are more than 75 periodic issues, among which are more than 40 high-impact journals, publishing the results of research work from all over the world. A PubMed search alone returns about 800,000 titles of indexed publications pertinent to the field of transplantation, which covers approximately 70% of the total published work worldwide. There are also numerous books, book chapters, and other publications on the field of transplantation-related topics that find their readers every year. Ongoing research is funded by tens of millions of dollars and euros; these funds come from government and private investors, and are surpassed probably only by cancer and heart research funding.

And yet, among countless publications covering most of the areas in this particular field, specific segments such as perioperative care for the organ recipient remain underrepresented, and many topics are still not covered. The resulting lack of large, prospective studies, along with the relative scarcity of conceptual-level review articles, has prompted the choice of the main topic of this book, with intention to fill in the gap by collecting and presenting articles dedicated to these ignored problems.

This book is addressed to physicians and researchers working in the ever-expanding research and practice fields of transplantation medicine.

Its purpose is to present the transplantation community with a collection of works written by prominent experts in a variety of transplant-related fields, encompassing the most recent scientific and practical developments and accomplishments in the highly specialized segment of transplantation medicine, such as perioperative care for organ transplant candidates and recipients.

**II**

**Section 4**

Transplantation

*by Clark D. Kensinger and Jon S. Odorico*

Transplant Recipient - Postoperative Mental Dysfunction **125**

**Chapter 7 127**

Delirium Management, Treatment and Prevention Solid Organ
