• Michael S Green, Parmis Green, Lee Neubert, Kirtanaa Voralu, Poovendran Saththasivam, and George Mychaskiw.
• Hahnemann University Hospital, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, USA.
• Anesth Pain Med. 2015 Feb 1;5(1):e22271.

BackgroundAn unresolved question is the time required for the ability to return to complex tasks following anesthesia.ObjectivesThis study aims to characterize the severity and duration of cognitive impairment following sevoflurane or desfluane anesthesia after brief surgery using tests of cognitive ability to objectively testing performance.Patients And MethodsThis study is a double blinded randomized controlled trial. Patients were randomized to receive either a desflurane or sevoflurane-based anesthetic. On the morning of the surgery the subjects performed baseline cognitive task tests (Mini Mental Status exam, Trail Making Test Part A and B, Digit Symbol Coding, Hopkins Verbal Learning Test, Stroop Color and Word Test to determine baseline cognitive function. Cognitive testing was repeated 30 minutes and 1 hour after surgery whereas Modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS-M) and Memory Aging Telephone Screen (MATS) was used on the following day of surgery.ResultsTrail Making Test Part B cognitive test showed statistically significant in comparison for pre and post exposure of anesthetics. This difference was seen in the desflurane group. Other cognitive tests did not show differences on exposure to the anesthetic gases.ConclusionsThis study questioned the difference between volatile anesthetic agent's effects on patients completing a battery of neurocognitive tests attempting to answer if one agent has a more profound effect. Our study shows no statistically significant cognitive decline except for those in the Trail Making Part B in the Desflurane group. This conclusion is limited by the inherent limitations of the study, but does reinforce that the systemic inflammatory response from the surgery contributes cognitive impairment.

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