COMPARISON OF THE EFFECTS OF ATROPINE AND GLYCOPYRROLATE ON COGNITIVE FUNCTION FOLLOWING GENERAL ANAESTHESIA
Open Access
- 1 August 1987
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Elsevier in British Journal of Anaesthesia
- Vol. 59 (8) , 966-969
- https://doi.org/10.1093/bja/59.8.966
Abstract
Tests of orientation, concentration and shortterm visual memory were used to assess 72 patients 1 day before, and 2 days after, elective major surgery. Patients were premedicated with papaveretum and either atropine or glycopyrrolate, before receiving a standard general anaesthetic. Those who had received atropine showed significant postoperative short-term memory deficit (P< 0.01), but no change in orientation or concentration. Those who had been given glycopyrrolate showed no significant cognitive changes after surgery. As glycopyrrolate does not cross the blood-brain barrier freely, these findings support the involvement of central cholinergic mechanisms in the deterioration of cognitive function in the postoperative period.This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: