Effect of Edaravone on Postoperative Cognitive Function and Cerebral Oxygen Metabolism in Elderly Patients with Spinal Surgery

SummaryBackgroundTo investigate the effect of edaravone on the postoperative cognitive function and cerebral oxygen metabolism in elderly patients with spinal surgery.MethodsOne hundred and twenty patients undergoing elective thoracolumbar surgery, aged 65-75 years, were randomly divided into two groups: edaravone group (Group E, n = 60) and control group (Group C, n = 60). At 30 minutes before anesthesia, the patients in Group E received 0.5 mg/kg edaravone, while the patients in Group C received the same volume of normal saline. Mini-mental state examination (MMSE) was performed at 1 day before the operation, and 1 day and 4 days after the operation.ResultsA total of 26 patients in both groups had postoperative cognitive dysfunction. Compared with the preoperative MMSE scores, postoperative MMSE scores decreased significantly in both groups (p < 0.05) and the reduction in the 1-day postoperative MMSE scores in Group E was remarkably lower than that in Group C (p < 0.05).ConclusionEdaravone can reduce the incidence of early postoperative cognitive dysfunction in elderly patients. The underlying mechanism may be related to improvement of cerebral oxygen metabolism.