When the researchers gave the mice a drug that blocked the receptors targeted by the anesthetic, the animals performed as well in the novelty task as did animals that had not received any anesthetic. In previous studies, the researchers found that mice that were given an electric shock in a certain environment would not act afraid of the environment if they had been given the anesthetic drug, Orser said.īut the researchers also found the memory effects appeared to be reversible. These can include: Nausea Vomiting Dizziness Drowsiness Confusion Headache Generally, these side effects are temporary and resolve within a few days or weeks after the procedure. What's more, these memory deficits lasted up to a week, Orser said. 99.1 Job Placement 2.7 Student Attrition Rate Support Your AA Program Emory University Master of Medical Science Program in Anesthesiology is closely partnered with clinical sites in and out of the Emory Healthcare system to provide our learners with the best opportunities possible to obtain various clinical skills. In addition to potential memory loss, there are a few other potential side effects of anesthesia that may linger after the procedure. If the mice remembered the familiar object, they would spend more time around the novel one.Īfter receiving the anesthetic, the mice spent roughly equal time around the familiar and the novel objects, suggesting their memory of the object was impaired. They then put the mice in an environment where one of the two objects was familiar, while the other was new. The researchers put the mice in an enclosure with two different objects, which the animals could explore. Even though 10 million patients undergo surgery under general anesthesia every year, 2 1 in every 1000 to 2000 may temporarily regain consciousness or even remain conscious during surgery.
When the anesthesia wore off, Orser and her team tested the mice's memory with an examination that Orser called the "little red sports car test." In one experiment, the researchers gave mice a low dose of the common anesthetic called etomidate, which works by binding to receptors on an animal's brain cells called GABAARs. In mice, the researchers could study the effects of anesthesia without doing surgery, which would be unethical in humans, Orser said. Orser and her colleagues set out to measure how one common anesthetic affected memory in mice, as a model for humans. "We all have stories where Grandma was never quite right after surgery," Orser said. And for 6 percent of young adults and 13 percent of elderly adults, the problems persist about three months later. About 37 percent of young adults and 41 percent of elderly patients who undergo surgery with anesthesia still have cognitive deficits when they're discharged from the hospital, studies suggest.
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