Postoperative changes in visual evoked potentials and cognitive function tests following sevoflurane anaesthesia

Abstract

We tested the hypothesis that minor disturbance of the visual pathway persists following general anaesthesia even when clinical discharge criteria are met. To test this, we measured visual evoked potentials (VEPs) in 13 ASA I or II patients who did not receive any pre-anaesthetic medication and underwent sevoflurane anaesthesia. VEPs were recorded on four occasions, before anaesthesia and at 30, 60, and 90 min after emergence from anaesthesia. Patients completed visual analogue scales (VAS) for sedation and anxiety, a Trieger Dot Test (TDT) and a Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) immediately before each VEP recording. These results were compared using Student's t-test. P<0.05 was considered significant. VEP latency was prolonged (P<0.001) and amplitude diminished (P<0.05) at 30, 60, and 90 min after emergence from anaesthesia, when VAS scores for sedation and anxiety, TDT, and DSST had returned to pre-anaesthetic levels.