Inhalational Anesthesia and Precipitation of Dementia: is There a Link?
Status:
Active, not recruiting
Trial end date:
2021-12-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Many elderly patients undergoing surgical procedures already have impaired cognitive
(memory/concentration) status. Patients with pre-existing cognitive impairment, or dementia,
may benefit from modified anesthesia techniques. It is estimated that one in eight people age
65 and older has Alzheimers disease. More so, nearly half of people that are 85 years or
older have Alzheimers disease. Currently, both spinal (regional) and inhalational (general)
anesthesia, are used in patients undergoing common urological, orthopedic, and general
surgical procedures. Inhalational anesthesia has been associated with higher risk of memory
impairment in experimental (animal) and human studies. However, currently, there are simply
no large or good enough studies to be sure that inhalational anesthesia is responsible for
causing dementia and Alzheimers disease.The proposed study investigates if elderly patients
(65 years and older) undergoing spinal anesthesia (patient is awake or slightly sedated) are
less likely to develop dementia and Alzheimers disease for up to 2 years after surgery, when
compared to inhalational anesthesia (patient is kept asleep with gas anesthetic). The
investigators will also test all patients for the presence of apolipoprotein (ApoE-Îμ4 type
of gene that is present in 15-20% of patients), and beta-amyloid tau protein (present in
cerebrospinal fluid) that are known risk factors for Alzheimers disease. The particular
strength of this study is that it takes into account whether the frequency and/or severity of
dementia and Alzheimers disease is different in patients with and without these markers. The
investigators believe that this study will make a major contribution to better understanding
of development of Alzheimers disease.