Effect of sevoflurane inhalation anesthesia on the postoperative cognitive function of aged patients

Objective To study the effect of sevoflurane inhalation anesthesia on postoperative cognitive function of aged patients.Methods 236 aged patients underwent operation in the General Surgery Department from January,2013 to June,2014 were divided into two groups according to hidden random number table.The two groups were given sevoflurane inhalation anesthesia(sevoflurane group) and propofol intravenous anesthesia(propofol group),respectively.Then,postoperative cognitive functions of two groups were compared.Results Differences in postoperative eye-opening time,extubation time and response time of two groups were not statistically significant(P 0.05).MMSE scores of the sevoflurane group at 1 h and 6 h after surgery were obviously lower than those of the propofol group(P 0.01);they gradually recovered 24 h later,and basically returned to pre-operation level 72 h later.POCD(postoperative cognitive dysfunction) was found in both groups 1 h later.The incidence of POCD in the sevoflurane group 6 h later after operation was 58.47%,obviously higher than that(29.66%) in the propofol group(P 0.01).Difference of incidence of POCD at 24 h and 72 h after operation was not statistically significant(P 0.05).Conclusion Sevoflurane inhalation anesthesia has limited effect on the cognitive function of aged patients after operation,but the cognitive function can basically return to pre-operation level 72 h later after operation.Influential factors of cognitive impairment should be actively eliminated before operation,so as to improve the safety of surgical anesthesia for aged patients.