Inpatient Management of Parkinson's Disease
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abstract
Parkinsons disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, next to Alzheimers disease. As these patients advance through their disease, they are hospitalized more frequently than their agematched controls and tend to stay longer than those without PD. By far, motor symptoms such as wearing off, dyskinesias, or falls related to freezing or postural instability tend to be the most common cause of hospitalization. However, this patient population also may have non-motor symptoms that could complicate their hospitalization, including cognitive disturbances such as delirium or psychosis, infections such as aspiration pneumonia from dysphagia, or side effects to anti-parkinsonian medications such as intractable nausea or vomiting. Below are special considerations for managing this complex patient population.
