“Are older patients at risk for confusion after anesthesia?”
My mother is 78 years old and needs to have hernia surgery. She already has confusion quite often, but I am wondering if anesthesia can make this worse?
7 Answers
AnesthesiologistHerniaSurgery
As we grow older we become less tolerant to many things and more susceptible to potential negative side effects of medications. Healthy elderly people can and do tolerate anesthesia very well. Anesthesiologists know that elderly patients may not tolerate anesthesia as well and start with lower doses and titrate anesthetic levels as needed so the patient can get through the surgical procedure safely. If your mother already has confusion, she will be at increased risk for postoperative worsening of that confusion and will need to be watched carefully until she has cleared the anesthetic and recovered back to her baseline.
Many hernia surgeries can be performed with minimal sedation and local anesthesia and avoid the side effects of deep general anesthesia altogether. The local anesthetic is numbing medication that is injected into the tissue where the hernia is being repaired similar to what a dentist does when working in your mouth.
Your anesthesiologist will discuss the pros and cons of both general and local anesthetics with you preoperatively and help you and your mother decide what is best for her.
Whatever is done, the increased confusion your mother may experience because of the anesthesia will be temporary and will go away.
JRS
Many hernia surgeries can be performed with minimal sedation and local anesthesia and avoid the side effects of deep general anesthesia altogether. The local anesthetic is numbing medication that is injected into the tissue where the hernia is being repaired similar to what a dentist does when working in your mouth.
Your anesthesiologist will discuss the pros and cons of both general and local anesthetics with you preoperatively and help you and your mother decide what is best for her.
Whatever is done, the increased confusion your mother may experience because of the anesthesia will be temporary and will go away.
JRS
Anyone with baseline confusion can be more confused if anesthesia is administered.
One possible side effect of General Anestheisa is changes in cognitive function. The risk of loss of cognitive function increases as we get older and go under general anesthesia. Typically the changes are temporary and may last for a few days to a few months.
Anesthesia is just one contributing factor. Surgical stress, unfamiliar surroundings, length of procedure, are a few of the other stress factors that may contribute to postoperative confusion
Seniors are pron to have confusion due to certain medication used for anesthesia. A hernia surgery can be done with regional anesthesia (local anesthesia).
Older patients can have a complication called POCD, postoperative cognitive dysfunction. Too complicated to get into here but ask your anesthesiologist about treatment strategies prior to the surgery.
Yes. Your concerns should be thoroughly discussed with a physician anesthesiologist before the date of surgery.
