Effects of electroacupuncture on the elderly's postoperation cognitive dysfunction after general anesthesia

Objective To study the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) on the elderly's postoperation cognitive dysfunction (POCD) after general anesthesia.Methods Patients who need to have surgical operation done for lumbar spinal stenosis were randomly divided into an observation group (electroacupuncture and routine intravenous anesthesia) and a control group (only routine intravenous anesthesia),and EA was administered to those in the electroacupuncture group for 30 minutes at an interval of 10 minutes,beginning at 30 minutes prior to routine intravenous anesthesia and lasted till the end of the surgery.The differences regarding intraoperative propofol and remifentanil dosage,cognitive function,the levels of serum interleukin-6(IL-6),interleukin-10 (IL-10) and S100-β were compared.Results The intraoperative propofol and remifentanil dosages in observation group were (6.54 ± 3.27) μg/(kg· h) and (3.67 ± 2.53) mg/(kg· h),respectively,while those in control group were (9.70 ± 4.82) μg/kg and (5.62 ± 1.73) mg/kg.The intraoperative propofol and remifentanil dosages in observation group were significantly lower than those in control group (P ＜ 0.05).At 72 hours post-operation the incidence of POCD in observation group was significantly lower than that in control group (1 case,2.5％ versus 8 cases,20％),while the MMSE score was higher in observation group than that in control group (25.7 ± 1.9 versus 23.2 ± 2.1).The post-operation level of serum IL-6,IL-10 and S100-β in observation group were significantly lower than that in control group (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Electroacupuncture could significantly improve the elderly's postoperation cognitive dysfunction after general anesthesia.It could inhibit the excessive expressions of IL-6,IL-10 and S100-β,alleviate the brain damage and reduce the incidence of POCD. Key words: Elderly;  Postoperation cognitive dysfunction;  Electroacupuncture;  General anesthesia