Comparison of postoperative cognitive dysfunction with the use of propofol versus desflurane in patients undergoing surgery for clipping of aneurysm after subarachnoid hemorrhage

BACKGROUND: Cerebral aneurysm rupture is a distinct entity among various causes of cerebrovascular accident. Despite the current concept of early surgical clipping to prevent consequences of ruptured aneurysm in good grade subarachnoid hemorrhage patients, 40–50% have postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) on a long- term basis. Here, we compared the effect of two commonly used anesthetic agents on cognitive function following cerebral aneurysmal surgery, i.e., propofol and desflurane. METHODS: We conducted a prospective double-blind clinical study in 70 patients who were randomized to receive maintenance anesthetic agents either propofol or desflurane. The cognitive functions of patients were studied at the time of the discharge from a hospital or at 2 weeks following surgery whichever was early using the Hindi version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment scale. The hemodynamic parameters, brain relaxation score at the different time intervals, were also studied. RESULTS: There was no difference between the two anesthetic agents in terms of incidence of POCD (65.4% vs. 82.6%, P > 0.05) at the time of discharge or at 2 weeks following surgery. The mean POCD score in propofol and desflurane group was 22.81 ± 4.45 and 19.09 ± 5.66 which was statistically significant (P-value-0.01). The scores for domains of executive function, attention, and orientation were better with propofol group than desflurane group. Intraoperative hemodynamics and brain relaxation scores were similar in both groups. CONCLUSION: A significant number of patients undergoing aneurysmal neck surgery experienced POCD although incidence remained similar in both groups. However, it appears that mean cognitive score and certain domains of cognitive functions especially the executive function, attention, and orientation were better preserved with the use of propofol when compared to desflurane at the time of discharge or on 2 weeks following surgery whichever was early.