Neuropsychological Tests in Post-operative Cognitive Dysfunction: Methods and Applications

Jun Liu; Kequn Huang; Binbin Zhu; Bin Zhou; Ahmad Khaled Ahmad Harb; Lin Liu; Xiang Wu

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.684307

Neuropsychological Tests in Post-operative Cognitive Dysfunction: Methods and Applications

Front Psychol. 2021 Jun 4:12:684307. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.684307. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Jun Liu¹, Kequn Huang¹, Binbin Zhu¹, Bin Zhou¹, Ahmad Khaled Ahmad Harb¹, Lin Liu¹, Xiang Wu¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Anesthesiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China.

Abstract

Post-operative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a neurological complication that relatively frequently occurs in older people after anesthesia/surgery, with varying durations and significant differences in the severity of cognitive impairment. POCD is mainly characterized by memory loss mostly without consciousness disorders, accompanied by abnormal emotions, behaviors, and language, mostly without consciousness disorder. The clinical performance of POCD lacks specificity but can reflect the severity of cognitive impairment in patients. The diagnosis of POCD cannot be separated from the evaluation of perioperative cognitive function of patients, and the more popular and accepted method is neuropsychological tests (NPTs).

Keywords: anesthesia; cognitive dysfunction; neuropsychological assessment; perioperative; surgery.

Publication types

Review