Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation for Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction

This study aims to evaluate the effect of perioperative transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) on postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) in elderly patients who were diagnosed with gastrointestinal tumor and received radical resection of gastrointestinal tumors under general anesthesia and to determine the relationship among perioperative TEAS, inflammatory response, postoperative pain, and POCD preliminarily.

Inclusion criteria

• Patients aged 60 years or older;
• Patients were diagnosed with gastrointestinal tumor and received radical; resection of gastrointestinal tumors under general anesthesia in Subei people's hospital of Jiangsu province;
• The patients understood the research content and signed the informed consent form;
• American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) score I-III;
• No frailty before operation;
• D-dimer was normal before the operation

Exclusion criteria

• Patients with cognitive dysfunction before the operation or patients with previous history of cognitive dysfunction, dementia and delirium;
• Patients with a history of severe depression, schizophrenia and other mental and nervous system diseases or taking antipsychotic or antidepressant drugs in the past;
• Patients with severe hearing or visual impairment due to eye or ear diseases without assistive tools;
• Patients who are unable to communicate or have difficulty communicating;
• According to the definition of "China chronic disease and its risk factors monitoring report (2010)" (male average daily pure alcohol intake ≥ 61g, female average daily pure alcohol intake ≥ 41g, alcohol volume (g) = alcohol consumption (ML) × alcohol content% × 0.8);
• Patients who were hospitalized for three months or more before surgery or who had received surgical treatment within three months;
• Patients who can't take care of themselves or are physically disabled and unable to carry out nerve function test;
• Patients with severe heart, liver and renal failure;
• Patients with hypoxemia (blood oxygen saturation < 94%) more than 10 minutes during operation;
• Patients admitted to ICU after operation;
• Patients who quit or died due to noncooperation or sudden situation;
• Patients who already participate in other clinical studies which may influence this study;
• Patient who underwent emergency surgery;
• Patient had a history of recent or conventional acupuncture treatment.