Advances in pathogenesy of postoperative cognitive dysfunction

Background Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a serious complication following a wide variety of surgical procedures. The clinical manifestation is cognitive decline, anxiety, memory impairment, deterioration of language comprehension and social adaptation ability decline, etc. It was common in old patients, maybe continue for months or years, even permanent cognitive dysfunction. There is an associated decline in the ability to perform activities of daily living which can cause substantial social and economic damage. Objective There is a variety of factors that influence POCD, and the underlying mechanisms of POCD are not clear. Content In this article,it reviewed paper covering the following research areas: central cholinergic,long-term potentiation (LTP), inflammation, biochemical markers and ApoE,which is relevant to research progress of pathogenesis in the postoperative cognitive dysfunction. Trend POCD is not a single disease but more likely to be a syndrome with multiple causes. The mechanisms relate to many unknown fields and further research is needed. Key words: POCD;  Pathogenesy