Broken hip and now dementia?

[belay]

My mum in law is 90. She broke her hip and since the operation has been very confused. Telling us she is in Australia, asking us to take her dog for a walk (died 20 years ago) and asking where her husband is (passed away 2 years ago).
This has gone on for two weeks now. Her memory clinic appointment is not until the middle of January. Is this likely to be dementia ?

It could be dementia, which can get suddenly worse after any disruption. I could be temporary confusion as a result of the injury and operation. It could be confusion from an infection.

The main thing is to make sure the hospital is aware that this is not her normal state, otherwise they will assume she has been like this for some time, and that it's nothing to be concerned about. Tell the most senior person you can get hold of, and also write it down and get it into her notes.

Falls and injury can trigger and speed up dementia in elderly patients (and not so elderly) but also get them to check her bloods - low sodium and low magnesium can also trigger this behaviour as well.

It sounds like delirium. It took us 2 months to convince the hospital my mum had delirium not dementia - she went in completely ok but they labelled her as demented old woman. By that time she had started to develop (very fast) dementia - I think delirium increases the chances of getting dementia.