Present clinical status of postoperative cognitive dysfunction following noncardiac surgery

Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) after noncardiac surgery is less frequent than that after cardiac surgery. However, POCD after noncardiac surgery has become an important perioperative clinical issue particularly for geriatric surgical patients. In fact, it has been demonstrated that POCD is associated with increased mortality. Patients suffering from POCD usually complain of deterioration of memory as the initial symptom. Most patients do not notice that their symptoms may have been caused by the surgery, because they have no knowledge about POCD. For detecting POCD, it is necessary to perform several neurophysiological tests. Furthermore, physicians must be aware that a wide spectrum of cognitive functions, such as memory, attention, and information processing, are impaired in some of the patients. There is no established therapeutic protocol for POCD, although the risk factors of POCD have been identified. Hence, anesthesiologists and surgeons should have knowledge about the clinical status and risk factors of POCD so that they can preoperatively evaluate the risk of POCD in patients and prevent its occurrence.