Anesthesiology, geriatric surgery, and the risk of post-operative cognitive dysfunction

Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction refers to impairment in a person's cognitive functioning after a surgical procedure with the use of general anesthesia. This study examined the health status, pharmacological agents used both preoperatively and postoperatively, duration of surgery, oxygen saturation level, creatinine level, and preoperative and postoperative cognitive status of 200 male subjects 65 years and older by evaluating their operative medical records. The purpose of this study was to evaluate relationships between these variables in relation to the development of Post Operative Cognitive Dysfunction. The results of this study found a relationship between cancer and postsurgical confusion. Also, confusion significantly increased postoperatively as compared with preoperative levels. For this sample, a marginally significant finding was patients who were given the drug Versed experienced less postoperative confusion than with other drugs given preoperatively.