Abstract

CARBALLOSA LABRADA, Norberto; BACALLAO CARRIL, Dayami  and  SERRANO RICARDO, Giselle. Postsurgical assessment of mental deterioration in geriatric patients intervened under elective general anesthesia. Rev cuba anestesiol reanim [online]. 2014, vol.13, n.3, pp. 231-240. ISSN 1726-6718.

Introduction: old age is the last stage in life. Objective: identify the deterioration of mental functions caused by general anesthesia in geriatric patients undergoing elective surgery. Methods: a prospective longitudinal study was conducted of 800 patients aged 65 and over at Enrique Cabrera hospital. The modified Bigler's test was applied before anesthesia and 72 hours after surgery. Results: mental function deterioration was found in 2% of the patients, a statistically non-significant value occurring in the most advanced ages. Female gender predominated, but the difference with respect to male gender was not significant. Mental function deteriorated in physical status III and IV, as well as in surgical interventions for hip fracture, intestinal occlusion and upper digestive bleeding. Mental function deterioration was also observed when ketamine-fentanyl was used, and in complications (arrhythmias, shock, bronchopneumonia and bronchial aspiration). In surgical-anesthetic acts extending for more than three hours, mental function deteriorated due to the scope of the intervention. Bigler's test revealed that anesthesia does not seem to affect the mental state of geriatric patients. Conclusions: anesthesia does not seem to affect mental function in geriatric patients. It is age, the scope of the intervention, the patient's history and their physical state that lead to mental function deterioration, based on the 2% of patients in whom such deterioration was observed.

Keywords : postoperative mental function; aging; anesthesia.

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