Recovery Following Desflurane Versus Sevoflurane for Outpatient Urologic Surgery in Elderly Females
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2013-08-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Numerous studies demonstrate that patients have improved immediate recovery characteristics
following desflurane anesthesia compared to other volatile agents, including sevoflurane.
There is limited evidence in the literature to suggest that patients undergoing sevoflurane,
compared to desflurane anesthesia, may suffer from limitation in function and cognitive
ability for an undetermined, but prolonged period of time following surgery. These
differences are not explained pharmacokinetically and may be a result of a direct neurotoxic
effect of sevoflurane. An unresolved question is the time required for the ability to return
to complex tasks, such as driving, following anesthesia. Commonly, patients are advised not
to drive or make important decisions for 24 hours following anesthesia, but this is not
well-studied and proscribed on an empiric, rather than scientific, basis with very limited
data available.This study will better define recovery characteristics and characterize the
severity and duration of cognitive impairment following sevoflurane or desflurane anesthesia
after brief outpatient urologic surgery in elderly females using tests of cognitive ability
coupled with performance on a driving simulator and cognitive task tests to objectively
measure not only testing performance, but also cognitive effort in performing these tests.