Cognitive function after surgery with regional or general anesthesia: A population-based study

Our aim was to examine whether surgery with regional anesthesia (RA) is associated with accelerated long-term cognitive decline comparable with that previously reported after general anesthesia (GA).

Longitudinal cognitive function was analyzed in a cohort of 1819 older adults. Models assessed the rate of change in global and domain-specific cognition over time in participants exposed to RA or GA.

When compared with those unexposed to anesthesia, the postoperative rate of change of the cognitive global z-score was greater in those exposed to both RA (difference in annual decline of -0.041, P = .011) and GA (-0.061, P < .001); these rates did not differ. In analysis of the domain-specific scores, an accelerated decline in memory was observed after GA (-0.065, P < .001) but not RA (-0.011, P = .565).

Older adults undergoing surgery with RA experience decline of global cognition similar to those receiving GA; however, memory was not affected.