Impact of Anaesthesia on Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction in the Elderly Population: A Myth or Reality

摘要

Background: With the increasing number of surgeries being performed on elderly people worldwide each year, it has become important to study and manage the complications related to them. Post-operative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is an age-related complication, very frequent in the older people. Hence, the present study was undertaken to detect the incidence of POCD and compare it between those undergoing surgery under regional anaesthesia and general anaesthesia. Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted in 81 patients of age above 60 years, ASA physical status I, II, III, undergoing major surgeries during the period of one year. Pre and post-operative cognitive assessment was done using the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE)/ Short Portable Mental State Questionnaire (SPMSQ), and Memory Impairment Screen (MIS). Results: About 40% of the study population showed POCD. There was no significant difference between General and Regional anaesthesia techniques regarding POCD incidence. Increasing age and extensive surgery correlated with higher POCD occurrence. No significant association was found between addiction, co-morbidities and type of surgery. Conclusion: Increasing age makes the elderly more prone to POCD and can have significant effect on their quality of life. So, such cases must be looked for in this population and managed accordingly.