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Effect of general and sub-arachnoid anesthesia on the incidence of postoperative delirium and cognitive impairments in elderly Chinese patients


Wei-Xia Ren
Ran-Ran Wu

Abstract





Purpose: To investigate the effect of general and subarachnoid (spinal) anesthesia on the incidence of postoperative delirium and cognitive impairments in elderly Chinese patients.


Methods: Elderly Chinese patients (n = 281) aged 65 – 79 years (mean age = 74.12 ± 4.15 years) who underwent proximal femoral fracture surgery were recruited over a 1-year period for this study. The patients were evaluated using neuropsychological assessment battery (NAB) 24 h before surgery, and on the first day 1 month after surgery. Data on activity of daily living (ADL) (in this case toileting at the time of discharge) were recorded and analyzed.


Results: There was no significant difference in the number of patients that developed postoperative delirium between the two anesthesia groups (p > 0.05). Although the trail making test (TMT) scores (parts A and B) were increased on the first day 1 month after surgery, there were no significant differences in NAB results between the two groups (p > 0.05). Patients who received subarachnoid (spinal) anesthesia had significantly higher dependency for toileting at the time of discharge than those who received general anesthesia (p < 0.05).


Conclusion: These results show that general and subarachnoid (spinal) anesthesia do not cause postoperative delirium and cognitive dysfunction in elderly Chinese patients who underwent proximal femoral fracture surgery.






Journal Identifiers


eISSN: 1596-9827
print ISSN: 1596-5996