Active clinical trials for "Postoperative Cognitive Complications"

The calcium channel blocker nimodipine dilates cerebral blood vessels and can pass through the blood-brain barrier, providing neuroprotective effects by selectively improving cerebral blood flow and inhibiting neuronal necrosis and apoptosis. Nimodipine significantly inhibited the production of tumor necrosis factor TNF-α and interleukin IL-1β, and also of nitric oxide and prostaglandin E2 from lipopolysaccharide-stimulated microglia. Abnormal cytokine networks are important in the development of nerve cell damage that leads to cognitive impairment.

The proposed studies are aimed to measure Tau and P-Tau levels in pre- and postoperative blood, urine, feces and saliva, as well as to assess pre- and postoperative neurocognitive function in children (3 to 5 years old) who will have surgery under general anesthesia (single versus multiple exposures). The studies will establish a system to study biomarkers of the anesthesia/surgery-associated neurocognitive impairment in children and generate hypothesis that Tau or P-Tau serves as the biomarker of such neurocognitive impairment in children.

This is a pilot study to evaluate the effect of dexmedetomidine in the prevention of delirium in non-cardiac surgical patients. The preliminary data regarding the effect of dexmedetomidine on delirium comes from a study underway at Stanford. We propose to randomize fifty patients into two different protocols, one using dexmedetomidine until PACU discharge (hip replacement) and the other using dexmedetomidine for 24 hours in a monitored setting.

BACKGROUND: Post-operative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a potentially irreversible loss of brain functions observed in elderly patients after surgical operations under general anaesthesia. POCD at 3 post-operative months is observed in up to 15% of patients aged 70 years and more, and the only recognized risk factor for this condition is increasing age. Importantly, the incidence of POCD at 3 months has been associated to an increased disability and mortality. OBJECTIVES: The present study will evaluate in patients aged 75 years and older undergoing general anaesthesia for non-cardiac surgery, whether an hemodynamic strategy, aiming at maintaining intra-operative arterial blood pressure close to patient's preoperative blood pressure, i.e., to avoid hypotensive episodes, reduces the incidence of POCD at three months. METHODS: Around 1800 consecutive patients scheduled to undergo general anaesthesia for elective non-cardiac surgery will be enrolled. Each patient's cognitive function will be evaluated preoperatively and at 3 months and 1 year postoperatively, together with the occurrence of hearing loss and vestibular function impairment. Furthermore, the incidence of postoperative delirium and cardiovascular, respiratory and infectious complications will be evaluated. EXPECTED RESULTS: The primary outcome is a 25% relative reduction in the incidence of POCD at 3 postoperative months. Secondary outcomes are the reduction of POCD incidence at 1 postoperative year, a reduction in postoperative hearing loss and vestibular impairment at 3 months, a reduction in the incidence of delirium. Hospital length of stay and 90 day mortality will also be assessed. This present study could have a high socio-economic impact, reduce healthcare costs and patient morbidity and mortality with a simple not expensive intraoperative intervention.

The main goal of this study is to allow the anesthesiologist to make a more informed decision about the anesthetic requirement of a person prior to starting anesthesia. The preliminary data collected in this study will support a larger investigation aimed at gaining a better understanding of anesthetic susceptibility in general and in the elderly population which appears to be at greater risk for Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction (POCD) POCD is a short-term decline in cognitive function (especially in memory and executive functions) that may last from a few days to a few weeks after surgery. In rare cases, this disorder may persist for several months after major surgery. POCD is distinct from emergence delirium. It occurs most commonly in older patients and those with pre-existing cognitive impairment. POCD is common in adult patients of all ages at hospital discharge after major non-cardiac surgery, but only the elderly (aged 60 years or older) are at significant risk for long-term cognitive problems. The body's inflammatory response to surgery likely plays an important role, at least in elderly patients. Investigators also postulate that a relative 'anesthetic overdose' may be a significant risk factor. Hence, being able to make a better judgment on the dose needed for an individual is extremely important.

This study is a randomized controlled trial of preoperative oral iron supplementation, to identify whether iron deficiency is a modifiable risk factor for adverse surgical outcomes such as red blood cell transfusion and diminished postoperative cognitive and physical capacity in adolescents undergoing scoliosis surgery. Research Question(s)/Hypothesis(es): Primary Iron supplementation will reduce the incidence of perioperative RBC transfusion in iron deficient scoliosis patients undergoing spinal fusion. Secondary Iron supplementation will reduce postoperative neurocognitive functional declines in iron deficient scoliosis patients undergoing spinal fusion. Iron supplementation will improve patient-reported physical functioning in iron deficient scoliosis patients undergoing spinal fusion.

This study evaluate the cognitive functions of patient after hip or kneel replacement.Half of the patient will receive transcutaneous vagus nerve electrical stimulation during the surgery while the other half will get placebo therapy

The objective of this study is to investigate the value of employing the aortic no-touch off-pump coronary artery bypass technique and the practice of carbon dioxide surgical field flooding for the prevention of type 1 and 2 neurological injuries following surgical coronary revascularization.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether epidural levobupivacaine applied for the purpose of post-operative analgesia compared to systemic analgesia with morphine leads to better pain control, stronger suppression of the inflammatory response and the production of inflammatory mediators, faster recovery of patients and consequently less incidence of postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) in elderly patients after surgical treatment of femoral fractures.

The purpose of this study is the examine the feasibility of and estimate the efficacy of a preoperative exercise (i.e. prehabilitation) program in 40 up to sedentary older adults (i.e. age 60 and over) undergoing abdominal, urologic or gynecologic surgery under the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocol at Duke, using a variety of techniques to measure the possible effect of this intervention. Study patients will undergo a program of prehabilitation exercise for 6 days per week prescribed for them by an exercise physiologist, for up to 4 weeks prior to surgery. Study participants will undergo four types of assessments: Functional/Cognitive testing; Blood/cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples and Muscle biopsies; Brain Imaging; and Brain Activity Recording. Clinical Outcomes will also be obtained from the Duke electronic medical record system. The risks of the exercise intervention are generally mild, since moderate exercise in this patient population generally results in improved health outcomes. Data from these patients will be analyzed in comparison to propensity matched patients from the Duke Markers of Alzheimer's Disease and neurocognitive Outcomes after Perioperative Care (MADCO-PC) study who did not undergo this prehabilitation exercise intervention. Taken together, the results of this study will allow the investigators to estimate the possible effect of prehabilitation exercise on multiple domains of postoperative recovery (cognition, brain connectivity, biomarkers, brain activity, etc) and will provide important preliminary data.