THE IMPACT OF ANESTHETIC TECHNIQUES ON COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS AFTER UROLOGICAL SURGERY.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a well-recognized complication of cardiac and noncardiac surgery. However, contradictory results concerning postoperative mental function have been reported. The aim is to determine the effect of anesthetic techniques (general or spinal) on cognitive functions using more sensitive neuropsychological tests in patients undergoing urological surgery. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of thirty patients were enrolled in the study and assigned to receive either general (n = 15) or spinal (n = 15) anesthesia. A battery of neuropsychological tests including Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Iowa Gambling Task, Stroop Color-Word Test, N-back Task and Continuous Performance Test was performed preoperatively and three days later. RESULTS: The two experimental groups were similar at baseline assessment of cognitive function. Although there were no statistically significant differences between general and spinal anesthetic groups with respect to Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and Iowa Gambling Task, a significant intergroup difference between pre-and postoperative N-back scores was detected in the general anesthesia group (p = 0.001 & p = 0.004). In addition, patients within this group had significantly higher error rates on the Stroop Color-Word (p = 0.019) and Continuous Performance Tests (p = 0.045). In contrast, patients receiving spinal anesthesia exhibited little change or marginal improvement on all subscales of the battery. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate significant decline in specific aspects of mental function among patients who were administered general anesthesia compared with the other technique. It seems that spinal anesthesia contributes to lower disturbance after surgery.

Rapid spread and high mortality due to community-acquired pneumonia caused by Acinetobacter baumannii (CAP-AB) in a Covid-19 intensive care unit.

Acinetobacter baumannii is a rare but dangerous gram-negative bacteria causing nosocomial infections, especially in intensive care units. The increased use of antibiotics in the treatment of bacterial infections leads to drug resistance, delays, or failures in treatment. The patient is a 48-year-old man with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) being treated in the intensive care unit. After contracting Acinetobacter baumannii, the patient's condition deteriorated, and he developed severe pulmonary problems. Due to the unknown presence of Acinetobacter baumannii in the patient, this bacterium transmitted to six other patients in the ward, which resulted in their deaths. In this report, we describe the causes and risk factors of the disease, and the results of laboratory tests and therapeutic processes.