Effects of Anesthetics Sevoflurane, Propofol and Desflurane on Postoperative Delirium (POD) and Postoperative Cognitive Disorder (POCD)

Postoperative delirium (POD) and postoperative cognitive disorder (POCD) are the most common complications of geriatric surgical patients, which could cause long-term social dysfunction, high mortality and increased medical cost. Currently, there is no efficient biomarker for POD/POCD, and it also remains largely unknown whether different anesthesia might lead to different incidence and severity of POD/POCD. The investigator's previous studies showed that thickness of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFL-T) measured by optical coherence tomography (OCT) was associated with POD/POCD; change of RNFL thickness (RNFL-C) in certain period correlated with cognitive deterioration. Thus, the investigators consider that RNFL might be a potential biomarker of POD/POCD. In the proposed large-scale longitudinal studies, the investigators will clinically validate RNF-LT as pre-operative POD/POCD biomarker, and RNFL-C as post-operative biomarker of POD/POCD. Finally, the investigators will compare the effects of surgery (total hip/knee replacement) under general anesthesia with sevoflurane, propofol and desflurane on the incidence and severity of POD/POCD in patients. Results from the proposed studies will likely establish RNFL as a potential POD/POCD biomarker, promote the clinical utilization of OCT-RNFL in early screening and outcome prediction of POD/POCD, and finally optimize anesthesia care of geriatric surgical patients to avoid or reduce POD/POCD incidence. These findings will lead to better postoperative outcomes of geriatric patients.