Post-Operative Cognitive Dysfunction: Pre-Operative Risk Assessment and Peri-Operative Risk Minimization: A Pragmatic Review of the Literature

Citation: Vizcaychipi MP. Post-Operative Cognitive Dysfunction: Pre-Operative Risk Assessment and Peri-Operative Risk Minimization: A Pragmatic Review of the Literature. J Intensive & Crit Care 2016, 2:2. Post-operative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is one of the most well recognised neuropsychological consequences of anaesthesia. One of the difficulties in studying POCD however is that although it is recognised as a mild cognitive disorder separate to delirium and dementia, and characterised by subtle impairments in memory, concentration and information processing, it is not yet described formally as a psychiatric diagnosis with exact diagnostic criteria [1].