Esketamine and neurocognitive disorders in adult surgical patients: a meta-analysis.
BMC anesthesiology December 5, 2024 Xing Lin, Xin Liu, Huoming Huang et al. 15 citations
A meta-analysis of 13 randomized controlled trials involving 1068 adult surgical patients found that intravenous esketamine given during general anesthesia reduced the risk of postoperative delirium by 54% and postoperative cognitive dysfunction by 50%, with high to moderate certainty of evidence. Esketamine also improved cognitive status at 4, 24, and 48 hours after surgery, decreased intraoperative remifentanil use, and lowered the risk of postoperative nausea and vomiting by 36%. These results suggest esketamine as a potentially beneficial adjunct to general anesthesia for protecting against perioperative neurocognitive disorders.