The association of perioperative autologous blood transfusion with the early postoperative cognitive dysfunction in aged patients following lumbar surgery.

PURPOSE: Intraoperation autologous blood transfusion is an effective method that is used in surgeries with an important blood loss. Several studies suggest that massive blood transfusion is one of the independent risks for postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD). Whether the autologous blood is one of the risk factor for POCD or not, we retrospectively examined the incidence of POCD and the probable risk factors in patients undergoing lumbar surgery in our hospital, with the same aged non-POCD patients as controls. METHODS: Eighty-one patients who underwent lumbar surgery were included. Perioperative data were examined for association with POCD on the 7 postoperative days by a Mini-Mental State Test. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine the probable risks associated with POCD. RESULTS: POCD was found in 21 patients. Participants who developed POCD were more likely to had a lower eduction level, more likely to had more blood loss, higher incidence of preoperative anemia, and perioperative allogeneic blood transfusion of more than 3 units as independent risk factors for POCD 7 d postoperatively (P < 0.05). Otherwise, there is no significant difference of the patients received autologous blood or not (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Autologous blood transfusion is not a risk factor for POCD in aged patients following lumbar surgery. Autologous blood is likely to be a better method of intraoperative blood transfusion during lumbar spine surgery.

Effects of combined brief etomidate anesthesia and postnatal stress on amygdala expression of Cl- cotransporters and corticotropin-releasing hormone and alcohol intake in adult rats.

Early life stressors, including general anesthesia, can have adverse effects on adult neural and behavioral outcomes, such as disruptions in inhibitory signaling, stress responsivity and increased risk of psychiatric disorders. Here we used a rat model to determine the effects of combined exposure to etomidate (ET) neonatal anesthesia and maternal separation on adult amygdala expression of genes for corticotropin-releasing hormone (Crh) and the chloride co-transporters Nkcc1 and Kcc2, as well as ethanol intake. Male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to 2 h of ET anesthesia on postnatal days (P) 4, 5, or 6 followed by maternal separation for 3 h on P10 (ET + SEP). During the P91-P120 period rats had daily 2 h access to three 0.05% saccharin solutions containing 0%, 5%, or 10% ethanol, followed by gene expression analyses. The ET + SEP group had increased Crh mRNA levels and Nkcc1/Kcc2 mRNA ratios in the amygdala, with greater increases in Nkcc1/Kcc2 mRNA ratios in males. A moderate increase in 5% ethanol intake was evident in the ET + SEP males, but not females, after calculation of the ratio of alcohol intake between the last week and first week of exposure. In contrast, control males tended to decrease alcohol consumption during the same period. A brief exposure to ET combined with a subsequent episode of stress early in life induced significant alterations in expression of amygdala Crh, Nkcc1 and Kcc2 with greater changes in the Cl- transporter expression in males. The possibility of increased alcohol intake in the exposed males requires further confirmation using different alcohol intake paradigms.