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British Journal of Anaesthesia, 2002, Vol. 88, No. 3 362-368
© 2002 The Board of Management and Trustees of the British Journal of Anaesthesia

Clinical Investigations

Recovery of memory after general anaesthesia: clinical findings and somatosensory evoked responses

I. Rundshagen*,1, K. Schnabel2 and J. Schulte am Esch3

1Department of Anaesthesiology, University Hospital Charité, Campus Charité Mitte, Schumannstrasse 20/21, D-10117 Berlin, Germany. 2Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. 3Department of Anaesthesiology, University Hospital Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany*Corresponding author

Background. Mid-latency somatosensory evoked responses are used to monitor the integrity of the sensory pathways intra-operatively. They can quantify the effects of anaesthetics on the central nervous system. Mid-latency auditory evoked responses have been related to cognition during anaesthesia, but there are no detailed studies using median nerve somatosensory evoked responses (MnSSER).

Methods. We studied 49 patients during recovery from general anaesthesia (isoflurane/nitrous oxide or propofol) to assess implicit and explicit memory function in relation to mid-latency MnSSER. The MnSSER recordings were made before anaesthesia, during steady-state anaesthesia, and at the end of the recovery period. The patients were interviewed 24 h later about their memory for the immediate wake up phase. Statistical analysis was by multivariate analysis of variance.

Results. Out of 49 patients, 23 recalled the recovery period, 11 had implicit memory for an object shown to them during the recovery period, and 15 did not have any memory for the recovery period. At RECOVERY the patients with recall had significantly shorter MnSSER latencies N45 and P50 and inter-wave conduction times LatN35 – LatP45 than patients without memory (P<0.05).

Conclusions. We conclude that MnSSER components warrant further investigation for studying the effects of anaesthetic drugs on cognitive function.

Br J Anaesth 2002; 88: 362–8


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I. Rundshagen, J. Mast, N. Mueller, F. Pragst, C. Spies, and K. Cortina
Nervus medianus evoked potentials and bispectral index during repeated transitions from consciousness to unconsciousness
Br. J. Anaesth., September 1, 2008; 101(3): 366 - 373.
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