Abstract:Objective To analyze the risk factors for perioperative delirium in elderly patients with abdominal malignancies.Methods The study included 164 elderly patients with abdominal malignancies admitted to the Third People's Hospital Affiliated to Nantong University from June 2023 to December 2024, all of whom underwent surgical treatment. The Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit (CAM-ICU) was used to assess the occurrence of delirium during the perioperative period, based on which the patients were divided into a delirium group (52 cases) and a non-delirium group (112 cases). Clinical data including sex, age, education level, underlying diseases (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, coronary heart disease, diabetes mellitus), perioperative indicators (operative duration, anesthesia duration, intraoperative blood loss), intraoperative risk events (hypotension, hypothermia, conversion to open surgery), intraoperative medications, and preoperative basic biochemical indicators were collected. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify risk factors for delirium in elderly patients with abdominal malignant tumors during the perioperative period. A nomogram prediction model was constructed and its diagnostic performance was evaluated.Results Patients in the delirium group had higher age, prevalence of coronary heart disease, and prevalence of diabetes mellitus, longer operative duration and anesthesia duration, greater intraoperative blood loss, higher incidence of intraoperative hypotension and hypothermia, higher rate of ketamine use, and higher white blood cell counts, but lower rate of flurbiprofen axetil use and hemoglobin levels compared with the non-delirium group (P < 0.05). The multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that advanced age [O^R = 1.137 (95% CI: 1.037, 1.246) ], coronary heart disease [O^R = 4.297 (95% CI: 1.164, 15.862) ], great intraoperative blood loss [O^R = 1.047 (95% CI: 1.030, 1.064) ], intraoperative hypotension [O^R = 3.362 (95% CI: 1.016, 11.118) ], and intraoperative hypothermia [O^R = 4.919 (95% CI: 1.168, 20.714) ], and low preoperative hemoglobin levels [O^R = 0.970 (95% CI: 0.941, 1.000) ] were all risk factors for delirium (P < 0.05), and that usage of flurbiprofen axetil [O^R = 0.287 (95% CI: 0.083, 0.991) ] was a protective factor for delirium (P < 0.05). A nomogram model was constructed based on the results of multivariable analysis, which demonstrated that advanced age, presence of coronary heart disease, greater intraoperative blood loss, intraoperative hypotension, intraoperative hypothermia, and lower preoperative hemoglobin levels were independent risk factors for perioperative delirium, whereas the use of flurbiprofen ester was identified as a protective factor (P < 0.05). The ROC curve analysis revealed that the nomogram prediction model had a sensitivity of 86.5% (95% CI: 0.742, 0.944), a specificity of 96.4% (95% CI: 0.911, 0.990), and an area under the curve of 0.937 (95% CI: 0.893, 0.981) for predicting the occurrence of delirium.Conclusion Risk factors for delirium in elderly patients with abdominal malignancies during the perioperative period include advanced age, presence of coronary heart disease, great intraoperative blood loss, intraoperative hypotension and hypothermia, and low preoperative hemoglobin levels. The use of flurbiprofen axetil is a protective factor, and the nomogram model based on multivariable analysis demonstrates good predictive performance.