Operations involving anaesthetic could cause brain damage
- Researchers tested the effects of oxygen deprivation of people climbing Everest
- Mental activity of participants significantly declined for as long as 11 days
- This study might explain why people struggle to go back to work after surgery
Phoebe Weston For Mailonline
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Surgery that involves taking anaesthetic might damage your brain for as long as 11 days, according to a landmark new study.
Researchers tested the mental damage of oxygen deprivation as a result of general anaesthetic in an experiment which involved testing mountaineers climbing Everest.
They found the cognitive ability of participants declined for a sustained period of time after they came down from the mountain.
Experts believe this may explain why so many people have difficulty returning to work after a serious operation.
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The research from City, University of London and University College London might explain why so many people have difficulty returning to work after a serious operation (stock)
WHAT DID THEY DO?
Participants took a neuropsychological (NP) test assessing memory, language and attention.
They did this at various different altitudes – sea level; 3,500 metres at Namche Bazaar; 5,300 metres at Everest Base Camp and 1,300 metres at Kathmandu.
There was also a control group who were tested at sea level over the same period of time.
The Reliable Change Index (RCH) was used to calculate how their neuropsychological functions changed over the testing period.
The effects of oxygen deprivation on the brain after climbing Everest were still present 11 days later when the climbers came back to Kathmandu.
A side effect of taking anaesthetic is hypoxic brain damage which is caused by inadequate oxygen supply during the operation.
Symptoms, which affect one in five people, include wheezing, high blood pressure and confusion.
However, this research found the brain damage could be much more prolonged than previously thought and last for several days.
The team used mountaineers to test the effect of oxygen starvation because it was unethical to intentionally deprive people of oxygen during an operation.
Research from City, University of London and University College London showed that there was a significant decline in mental activity for participants on their way down from the Everest peak, where there is one third the level of oxygen than at sea level.
After the ascent, the 198 climbers that were tested failed nearly 20 per cent of tests which they could have done before climbing the mountain, writes the Telegraph.
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The Reliable Change Index (RCI) calculated the changes in cognition and psychological function during and after oxygen starvation, according to the paper published in Plos ONE.
Participants took a neuropsychological (NP) test assessing memory, language and attention.
The effects of oxygen deprivation on the brain after climbing Everest were still present 11 days later when the climbers came back to Kathmandu (stock)
TESTING OXYGEN DEPRIVATION
The team used mountaineers to test the effect of oxygen starvation on the brain during surgery because it was unethical to intentionally deprive people of oxygen during an operation.
A side effect of taking anaesthetic is hypoxic brain damage which is caused by inadequate oxygen supply during the operation.
As many as one in five people have hypoxic brain damage and symptoms include wheezing, high blood pressure and confusion.
However, this research found that the brain damage could be much more prolonged than previously thought and last for several days after.
They did this at various different altitudes – sea level; 3,500 metres at Namche Bazaar; 5,300 metres at Everest Base Camp and 1,300 metres at Kathmandu.
There was also a control group who were tested at sea level over the same period of time.
The effects of oxygen deprivation on the brain after climbing Everest were still present 11 days later when the climbers came back to Kathmandu.
The fact that oxygen deprivation has such a prolonged impact on the brain might explain why more people die coming down Everest than going up.
Co-author Professor Stanton Newman, Dean of the School of Health Sciences at City believes that a similar thing might occur after taking anaesthetic for surgery.
‘We know that a number of people who go back to work after surgery and find that they have cognitive problems but it was unclear what was causing it’, he told the Telegraph.
‘We also noticed that the declines happened even when people were given oxygen and their oxygen levels returned to normal.’
The volunteers were 60 per cent male and had an average age of 45.
Participants for the study were recruited from the general public. All volunteers were over 18, fluent English speakers, lowland residents and non-professional trekkers.
‘By taking otherwise healthy individuals to Everest Base Camp our study has provided insight into how low oxygen environments impact on the human brain and body,’ said Dr Newman.
‘We hope this study will give further insight into how we can respond to hypoxia-related cognitive impairment in clinical settings, particularly in older patients, in order to guide therapy and thereby minimise the magnitude and duration of impairment.’
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