Diagnosis of the syndrome of cognitive dysfunction in older dogs after surgery

Abstract

The aging process causes morphological, physiological and biochemical changes in the central nervous system, often impairing their functions.The increase in longevity in the last century led to an increase in the number of elderly in the world population, leading to a higher incidence of diseases linked to pathological aging of the brain.Technological advances in medicine and also caused an increase in the number of elderly among pets. Given that there is a parallel between the pathological changes in the central nervous system in humans and dogs elderly, animals have been used in experimental studies of cognitive disorders in man.Cognitive dysfunction occurs through changes in the mental processes of memory and perception that assist the individual in learning mechanisms, being diagnosed by neuropsychological tests and the exclusion of other underlying diseases.For decades we observe that the elderly undergoing surgery and anesthetic show cognitive dysfunction after surgery that can extend from weeks to years after the procedure. Several studies have been conducted to establish the causes of this disorder.The duration of anesthesia, level of education, the use of benzodiazepines following procedure and cardiac and respiratory complications after surgery, were some of the causes of cognitive dysfunction after surgery.Aiming to assist the early diagnosis of cognitive dysfunction after surgery in humans, given that his diagnosis is made by excluding other diseases and neuropsychological tests, blood markers neurobioquímico glycolytic enzyme enolase as (NSE) and protein S100 beta is being studied in order to detect injuries to the central nervous systemCognitive dysfunction in dogs and cats is a common condition in older animals, but has been underestimated. Its diagnosis is made indirectly with the aid of questionnaires as well as the complete clinical assessmentSince there are parallels between the pathological processes involving dogs and the old man with cognitive impairment, it is estimated that dogs also exhibit cognitive dysfunction after anesthesia, surgical, as observed in humans. (AU)