Postoperative cognitive deficit in the elderly surgical patient

longed hypotension and the outcome was perhaps not surprising. However, the effects were attributed to the anaesthetic drugs with the recommendation that “operations on elderly patients should be confined to unequivocally necessary cases”. This prompted Simpson and colleagues 75 to prospectively survey physical and mental changes occurring after anaesthesia and elective surgery in an unselected group of elderly patients. A total of 741 patients...