Post - Anesthesia Cognitive Dysfunction of Aged Patients in One Day Surgery

Marija Sholjakova, Radmila Trajkova, Vesna Durnev, Marija Tolevska

Abstract: Background Nowadays, ambulatory anesthesia is becoming more desirable type of anesthesia for aged patients [1]. The modern drugs for day case surgery, with a short onset and reduced duration of action and fewer side effects, enable safe anesthesia with a shorter postoperative recovery and minimal length of stay in hospital settings. It is becoming obvious that ambulatory anesthesia and analgesia could also meet the needs of the elderly patients [2] but never underestimate the postoperative impairment of cognitive functions causing prolonged postoperative recovery and longer in-hospital stay of the elderly. The development of postoperative cognitive dysfunctions (POCD) is the reason for greater morbidity and delays of functional recovery of patients [3]. The problem of development of POCD after ambulatory surgery has not been investigated and reviewed in details. There are present two multicentre studies, ISPOCD 1 and ISPOCD 2, but they are insufficient to give the answers to all problems concerning this matter [4, 5]. The goal of this article is to discuss the post-anesthesia recovery of aged patients in one day surgery, and the incidence of postoperative impairment of cognitive function in elderly

Keywords: Ambulatory anesthesia, elderly, cognitive dysfunction