After surgical anesthesia, people have an almost doubled risk of impaired memory and cognitive decline, starting in their fifties.
Everyone expects to be transiently disturbed after general anesthesia, but a new study shows there may be longer lasting effects on memory and intellectual function, even in middle-aged people.
In the past, several studies have shown an impact of anesthesia on cognitive decline in older people, but a new study published in the journal Anesthesia provides some arguments to say that it could affect middle-aged people as well.
A prospective study in your fifties
In this study, researchers studied 964 people, middle-aged (54 years), followed as part of a cohort, the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention (WRAP).
Each participant was subjected to two cognitive assessment tests over the four-year follow-up to see if a group was more likely to experience cognitive decline or memory impairment.
Doubling the risk
Of the 670 people who had normal memory at the start of the study, those who had surgery with general anesthesia during the 4-year study period were almost twice as likely to show signs of memory impairment compared to those who had not had surgery.
In total, 21 of the 114 people operated on (18.4%) developed memory problems after anesthesia. This figure is significantly higher than the 56 out of 556 participants (10.1%) who developed abnormal memory and did not undergo surgery (p = 0.02).
Results to be weighed
Overall, the authors found that people who had surgery were more likely to have impaired memory and problems with executive intellectual function (executive cognitive function), although the memory changes were quite small.
These results suggest that people in their 50s who are due to have surgery and general anesthesia are at higher risk of having their neuropsychological tests on memory and executive function. But the authors of the study note that if the difference is very significant, due to the large size of the study population, the real difference is very small and does not really impact the lives of the people concerned.
An element to take into account
This study therefore confirms what doctors observe in everyday practice: a definite impact of general anesthesia but no drama. On the other hand, one can ask the question of the effect of repeated general anesthesias. However, anesthetic research is progressing and the various techniques used aim to better balance the patient throughout the operation.
These results have yet to be confirmed in other studies, but immediately raises the question of the preferential choice of locoregional anesthesia when possible.
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