Bookedited by Roderic G. Eckenhoff, Niccolò Terrando.
Summary: "The occurrence of personality, sensory and cognitive disturbances after anesthesia and surgery has been recognized for many decades, although the magnitude, duration and causes have remained a matter of debate. Certainly the transient occurrence of delirium after surgery is well known, and the various forms are reviewed here by Drs. Proekt, Gabbard, Sieber and Oh. The more durable forms of cognitive impairment after surgery have been more enigmatic. In the past two decades, the application of strict neurocognitive testing by research groups have definitively documented impairments lasting from weeks to months, and thus a term was coined; post-operative cognitive dysfunction" or POCD, a "syndrome" reviewed in depth here by Drs. Nelli, Culley and Crosby. Complicating the analysis of POCD has been the fact that a large number of patients may actually have cognitive improvement as a result of enhanced mobility after orthopedic surgery or reduced pain perhaps following cancer resection. Thus, post-operative cognitive improvement (POCI) is reviewed here by Drs. Arias, Sibille and Price Completing the first section of this book is the more contentious, but critically important topic of whether anesthesia and surgery result in a persistent cognitive disorder, such as mild cognitive impairment or dementia, an area discussed in detail by Drs. Schenning and Hogan"--Provided by publisher.