Effect of dexmedetomidine on cognitive dysfunction in elderly patients receiving abdominal operation in general anesthesia

Objective To investigate the effects of dexmedetomidine on cognitive dysfunction in elderly patients receiving abdominal surgery in general anesthesia.Methods One hundred and eighty elderly patients(2013.3-2014.2in our hospital.aged 65-82 years old,ASA ⅡorⅢgrade)undergoing abdominal operation were randomly divided into two groups with 90each:Dexmedetomidine group(group DH)and saline control group(group HS).In group DH,dexmedetomidine was infused over10 min with loading dose 0.8μg/kg and then 0.2-0.5μg·kg-1·h-1 as a maintenance dose.Group HS patients received the same volume of saline.MAP,HR and SpO2 were recorded 10 min before surgery,10 min before extubation,and 30 min after extubation.Total anesthetics consumption,time to spontaneous breath,extubation time and orientation recovery time were recorded.Mini Mental State Examination(MMSE)was used for evaluation of cognitive function 1day before operation,6hour,1d and 3dpostoperatively.Results General anesthetics consumption,recovery time to spontaneous breath,extubation time and orientation recovery time were lower in group HD than those in group HS(P0.05).Compared with the preoperative baseline,MMSE score decreased after 1or 3dafter surgery.However,MMSE 6hor 1dafter surgery in group HS were significantly lower than those in group DH(P0.05).There were 8POCD patients in group DH but 19 cases in group HS.Conclusion Dexmedetomidine can maintain hemodynamic stable in the surgery and reduce the incidence of postoperative cognitive dysfunction.