Ketamine and Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction

Summary

Over 30 million patients require a major surgery annually in the US alone and more than half of them are performed in patients over 60 years of age. Post-operative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a keystone complication of these surgeries and affects up to 40% of surgical patients aged over 60 years on discharge from the hospital. Despite controlled longitudinal studies have shown that POCD is transient, it is associated with delirium, higher mortality, earlier retirement, and greater utilization of social financial assistance The pathophysiology of persistent postoperative cognitive dysfunction and causal relationship between POCD and delirium remain incompletely understood. Identified clinical risk factors for both include advanced age, type of surgery, preexisting cognitive impairment, and drug addiction. We and others have provided evidence that the inflammatory response triggered by surgical trauma and pain may contribute to the development of delirium and cognitive impairment after surgery. Ketamine, a N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptor antagonist, is commonly used in anaesthesia and postoperative analgesia. By reducing both pain and glutamate excitotoxic effects on neuronal and microglial brain cells, it contributes to tone down the neuroinflammatory process associated with surgery. A recent body of evidence has shown that ketamine reduces the depressive-like behavior induced by inflammatory or stress-induced stimuli in mice. Ketamine was also found to reduce levels of inflammatory biomarkers in cardiac surgical patients. Orthopaedic surgery is a high-risk situation for developing postoperative cognitive dysfunction. In patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery, the prevalence of POCD is 26% one week after surgery and decreased to 10% at 3 months postoperatively, and a similar prevalence is found 12 months after the operation. Postoperative delirium is associated with an increased risk of POCD. Hundred thousands of patients \> 60 years undergo elective orthopaedic procedures per year around the world.

Timeline

Start

2017-03-20

Primary completion

2019-08-31

Completion

2019-08-31

Publications

• Background Kurdi MS, Theerth KA, Deva RS. Ketamine: Current applications in anesthesia, pain, and critical care. Anesth Essays Res. 2014 Sep-Dec;8(3):283-90. doi: 10.4103/0259-1162.143110.
• Background Jabre P, Combes X, Lapostolle F, Dhaouadi M, Ricard-Hibon A, Vivien B, Bertrand L, Beltramini A, Gamand P, Albizzati S, Perdrizet D, Lebail G, Chollet-Xemard C, Maxime V, Brun-Buisson C, Lefrant JY, Bollaert PE, Megarbane B, Ricard JD, Anguel N, Vicaut E, Adnet F; KETASED Collaborative Study Group. Etomidate versus ketamine for rapid sequence intubation in acutely ill patients: a multicentre randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2009 Jul 25;374(9686):293-300. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60949-1. Epub 2009 Jul 1.
• Background Riou B, Lecarpentier Y, Viars P. Inotropic effect of ketamine on rat cardiac papillary muscle. Anesthesiology. 1989 Jul;71(1):116-25. doi: 10.1097/00000542-198907000-00020.
• Background Riou B, Viars P, Lecarpentier Y. Effects of ketamine on the cardiac papillary muscle of normal hamsters and those with cardiomyopathy. Anesthesiology. 1990 Nov;73(5):910-8. doi: 10.1097/00000542-199011000-00019.
• Background Zanos P, Moaddel R, Morris PJ, Georgiou P, Fischell J, Elmer GI, Alkondon M, Yuan P, Pribut HJ, Singh NS, Dossou KS, Fang Y, Huang XP, Mayo CL, Wainer IW, Albuquerque EX, Thompson SM, Thomas CJ, Zarate CA Jr, Gould TD. NMDAR inhibition-independent antidepressant actions of ketamine metabolites. Nature. 2016 May 26;533(7604):481-6. doi: 10.1038/nature17998. Epub 2016 May 4.
• Background Harraz MM, Tyagi R, Cortes P, Snyder SH. Antidepressant action of ketamine via mTOR is mediated by inhibition of nitrergic Rheb degradation. Mol Psychiatry. 2016 Mar;21(3):313-9. doi: 10.1038/mp.2015.211. Epub 2016 Jan 19.
• Background Zorumski CF, Nagele P, Mennerick S, Conway CR. Treatment-Resistant Major Depression: Rationale for NMDA Receptors as Targets and Nitrous Oxide as Therapy. Front Psychiatry. 2015 Dec 9;6:172. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00172. eCollection 2015.
• Background Hudetz JA, Patterson KM, Iqbal Z, Gandhi SD, Byrne AJ, Hudetz AG, Warltier DC, Pagel PS. Ketamine attenuates delirium after cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth. 2009 Oct;23(5):651-7. doi: 10.1053/j.jvca.2008.12.021. Epub 2009 Feb 23.
• Background Arrowsmith JE, Harrison MJ, Newman SP, Stygall J, Timberlake N, Pugsley WB. Neuroprotection of the brain during cardiopulmonary bypass: a randomized trial of remacemide during coronary artery bypass in 171 patients. Stroke. 1998 Nov;29(11):2357-62. doi: 10.1161/01.str.29.11.2357.
• Verdonk F, Lambert P, Gakuba C, Nelson AC, Lescot T, Garnier F, Constantin JM, Saurel D, Lasocki S, Rineau E, Diemunsch P, Dreyfuss L, Tavernier B, Bezu L, Josserand J, Mebazaa A, Coroir M, Nouette-Gaulain K, Macouillard G, Glasman P, Lemesle D, Minville V, Cuvillon P, Gaudilliere B, Quesnel C, Abdel-Ahad P, Sharshar T, Molliex S, Gaillard R, Mantz J. Preoperative ketamine administration for prevention of postoperative neurocognitive disorders after major orthopedic surgery in elderly patients: A multicenter randomized blinded placebo-controlled trial. Anaesth Crit Care Pain Med. 2024 Aug;43(4):101387. doi: 10.1016/j.accpm.2024.101387. Epub 2024 May 6.

Drugs

Indications

No indication recorded.