Effect of General Anesthesia on Postoperative Cognitive Function in Patients Over 60 Years Old

Background: Postoperative cognitive dysfunction is one of the complications of surgery and general anesthesia (GA), causing short- and long-term mental and behavioral disabilities in patients. Such a disorder, especially in elderly patients, can lead to learning disabilities and memory impairment. Due to the importance of this subject, the present study aimed to assess the effects of GA on postoperative cognitive functions in patients over 60 years old who were candidates for surgery and anesthesia.

Methods: This descriptive-analytical clinical trial was performed on 45 patients over 60 years of age who were candidates for surgery under GA in Besat Hospital in Hamadan, Iran. Patients' memory function was measured by the Wechsler Memory Scale before the surgery and three days after the surgery. Finally, cognitive test scores pre- and post-anesthesia were compared, and the effect of different factors on them was evaluated.

Results: As evidenced by the results, the mean scores of general information, mental control, and word association subtests increased significantly after the surgery (P<0.05). Furthermore, the values ​​related to the total score, the balanced score, and also the memory coefficient demonstrated a significant elevation after the surgery (P <0.05).

Conclusion: It seems that GA might exert neurotoxic or neuroprotective effects depending on the used dosage and the duration of the technique. Moreover, preoperative stress and disease severity may adversely affect patients' ability to answer memory questions.