Social Cognitive Dysfunction in Elderly Patients After Anesthesia and Surgery

The Postoperative Effects of Anesthesia Exposure on Cognitive Decline in Older Adults: A Narrative Review

BACKGROUND

As modern medicine continues to make strides in effective surgical treatments, we must also consider the critical impact of anesthesia on neuropsychological outcomes. Recent evidence suggests that anesthesia exposure may be a risk factor for postoperative cognitive decline and the eventual development of dementia.

OBJECTIVES

To explore the vulnerability of the aging brain in the context of anesthesia exposure in surgery, studies will be reviewed, and pertinent findings will be highlighted and explored to better understand risks and possible factors that need to be considered when contemplating surgery.

METHODS

A narrative review was conducted using a combination of MEDLINE and APA PsycINFO databases to shed light on themes across studies assessing general trends regarding the influence of anesthesia on postoperative cognitive decline.

RESULTS

A search of relevant literature identified 388 articles. Excluding results outside the parameters of this study, the review includes quality assessments for 24 articles.

CONCLUSION

While findings are inconclusive, suggestions for further investigation into the relationship between anesthesia exposure and increased risk for postoperative cognitive decline are discussed, in addition to factors that may allow for greater informed disclosure of potential risks of anesthesia in older adults.

Emotion recognition dysfunction after anesthesia and cardiac surgery

Cognitive dysfunction after anesthesia and surgery has long been recognized. Recently, researchers provided empirical evidence for social cognition dysfunction (SCD) after anesthesia and surgery. In the present study, we concentrated on the deficits in emotion recognition, one of the most important clinical perspectives in SCD, in patients who underwent cardiac surgery. Biological motion (BM) was considered as the stimulus of interest, and patients' abilities of BM emotion perception and action perception before and after anesthesia and surgery were examined. In total, 60 adult patients (40-72 years old) completed the BM recognition task, which required them to label the types of actions and emotions of perceived BM. The results showed that while action perception remained intact after cardiac surgery, 18.3% of patients exhibited deficits in emotion perception, further confirming the existence of SCD after anesthesia and surgery.

Electroacupuncture for the Prevention of Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction Among Older Adults Undergoing Hip and Knee Arthroplasty: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Background: Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a common surgical complication in elderly patients undergoing hip and knee replacement. Electroacupuncture (EA) may have a protective effect on postoperative cognitive function, but relevant evidence remains uncertain. Objective: To systematically evaluate the evidence of EA for the prevention of POCD after total joint arthroplasty. Methods: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Data, VIP, and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM) databases were searched until May 1, 2021. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in which patients undergoing hip and knee replacement pretreated with EA for preventing POCD were included. The risk of bias was assessed by the Cochrane Collaboration tool. Meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager version 5.4. Results: A total of 11 RCTs with 949 patients were identified. Meta-analysis showed that compared with controls, EA pretreatment significantly reduced the incidence of POCD at 1, 3, and 7 days and 3 and 6 months after the operation. EA was also superior in improving the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores on the third postoperative day, but not on the first postoperative day. Neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in the EA group were significantly lower than that in the control group. There was no difference in S100β between the EA group and the control group. Compared to the control group, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels were not significantly lower in the EA group at postoperative hour 0, while significantly decreased at postoperative hours 24 and 48. Conclusion: Our results suggest that EA pretreatment is an effective adjunctive therapy for reducing the incidence of POCD for patients receiving total joint replacement surgery. Its effect was embodied in improving the MMSE scores and NSE, IL-1β, and TNF-α levels, whereas it had no significant effect on S100β levels. Meanwhile, the benefits of EA for improving POCD need further strengthening and support from more large-scale, high-quality, and good-homogeneity RCTs. Systematic Review Registration: https://osf.io/xb3e8.

Effect of propofol-based total intravenous anaesthesia on postoperative cognitive function and sleep quality in elderly patients

PURPOSE

This study aimed to observe the effect of propofol-based total intravenous anaesthesia (TIVA) on postoperative cognitive function and sleep quality in elderly patients.

METHODS

From August 2019 to August 2020, 130 cases of elderly patients who underwent abdominal surgery in The Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University were enrolled in this study. All participants were randomly divided into TIVA group (n = 65, receiving propofol-based TIVA) and control group (n = 65, receiving inhaled of sevoflurane anaesthesia). Intra-operative indicators were recorded in both groups. The cognitive function, sleep quality, urine melatonin sulphate, free cortisol, S-100 β protein and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were compared at different times.

RESULTS

On 1, 3, 7 and 15 days after operation, the cognitive function of the TIVA group was better than that of the control group, with statistically significance (P < .05, respectively). On the day of surgery, the two groups had similar sleep quality. The sleep quality of the TIVA group was better than that of the control group on 1, 3 and 7 days after surgery (P < .05, respectively). On the day of surgery, the levels of melatonin, cortisol, S-100β protein and IL-6 in the two groups were equivalent (P > .05). On 1, 3, 7 and 15 days after surgery, cortisol and IL-6 in the TIVA group were lower than those of the control group, and melatonin was higher than that of the control group (P < .05, respectively). On 1, 3 and 7 days after operation, the S-100 β protein in the TIVA group was lower than that in the control group (P < .05, respectively).

CONCLUSION

Propofol-based TIVA has little effect on the cognitive function and sleep quality of elderly patients after surgery, and it is worthy of clinical application.