Influence of Previous General Anesthesia on Cognitive Impairment: An Observational Study Among 151 Patients

Preoperative neurocognitive disorder (preO-NCD) is a common condition affecting 14-51. 7% of the elderly population. General anesthesia has already been associated with the one-year post-operative neurocognitive disorder (PostO-NCD), specifically, a deficit in executive function, measured by the Trail Making Test B (TMT-B), but its long-term effects on cognitive function have not been investigated. We aimed to detect preO-NCD prevalence in patients scheduled for cardiac surgery and further investigate the possible role of previous general anesthesia (pGA) in general preoperative cognitive status [measured via the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)] and/or in executive functioning (measured via TMT-B).