Study: Surgery, anesthesia not associated with cognitive functioning in elderly

Editor's Note

This study of 8,503 middle-aged and elderly twins in the Netherlands found no clinically significant association of major surgery and anesthesia with long-term cognitive dysfunction. The findings suggest that preoperative cognitive functioning and underlying diseases have stronger influence on postoperative cognitive abilities.

The study provided a powerful approach to detect subtle effects of surgery and anesthesia on cognitive functioning by minimizing the risk that the true effects are mixed with other environmental and genetic factors, the authors say.