Post operative cognitive dysfunction and the possible underlying neurodegenerative effect of anaesthesia

AbstractIntroduction: There is alarming evidence about the involvement of general anaesthesia in the development of postoperative cognitive dysfunction.Aim: To clarify the impact of general anaesthesia on cognitive function and to study the possible effect of general anaesthesia on serum S100B, the marker of neuronal degeneration.Methods: This is a prospective randomized controlled study carried out on 50 patients undergoing elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy under conventional general anaesthesia. Cognitive assessment for selected patients was done preoperative and 1 week postoperative using Paired Associate Learning test (PALT) for assessment of verbal memory and Benton Visual Retention test (BVRT) for assessment of visual memory. Quantitative determination of serum S100B was done for all patients in the basal sample and postoperative sample by applying an enzyme- linked immunoabsorbent assay technique on am automated ELISA platform.Results: Regarding cognitive tests, there was a statistically signif...