Can anesthesia cause symptoms of dementia?

It's quite common for anesthesia to cause temporary dementia, sometimes for up to six months. However, in the case of a person having undetected dementia prior to a surgery and anesthesia, it can be the trigger to bring the dementia out into the open. This is often the case with Lewy Body Dementia, the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer's.

My friend's mother got put under (a low dose) and when she woke up she was never the same. Major dementia. I'm not saying that is every case, but it was for her. I won't let my mom be put under for that reason.
I hope your husband does come out of it. Hugs to you.

My husband went downhill after anesthesia and morphine. I had been seeing signs that something wasn't quite right, but after he had blood clots and received the morphine, it seemed to trigger the really bad hallucinations and delusions. I think the body is a fragile system and that something can tip the mind off the cliff if it was already teetering on the edge.

My mother was forgetful such as not remembering the right word or a persons name, then 2 yr. ago she had surgery for a hernia (out patient procedure), the next day she was confused and even a week later confusion, not understanding simple info, confusing appts. My experience with dementia is a stressful situation pushes them forward such as a surgery. They can regain some of it back after things settle down, but my mother never did regain back to her baseline normal. She is now at stage 4 Alzheimer's. I wouldn't say the surgery caused it, I believe it was already there and the stress from having surgery pushed her further into the disease.

Some great answers here -they ring for me. I see a mirror of my mom's quick plunge from very minor into severe dementia just from the stresses of lengthy hospital stays, sedation & nursing home over a very short period.

Its true as we all have experienced. After my Mothers hip surgery with having minor demtentia and living alone at the time, she didnt even know where she lived or anything within 7 weeks afterwards. She thought my house was hers and she is still here with us many years later. At the time of sugery the surgeon wanted to do a spinal on her to avoid these dementia/ anesthesia effects, (so it is true), but they claimed she had arthritis in her back so badly that they couldnt and had to put her under instead. Makes me wonder what it does to all of us, but it definately is not something to do in elders with any signs of dementia. 10 years ago after heart surgery her forgetfulness turned into dementia but she was still able to live independently, but after her hip surgery she was never the same. I am sorry to say I doubt any anesthesia is still in their systems causing it. Great he wants to see a psychiatrist, take him asap! (Most wont go) Good Luck

My Dad had a colonoscopy a year ago, and hasn't been the same since. He had some memory issues prior, but has been getting continually worse since. He had one in 2009, and they removed 1 polyp, and then suggested another one 2 years later, at 87, and wanting to do the "right" thing he agreed to it, after doing some research, I learned that alot of colonoscopies are performed on the elderly that shouldn't be, and if I knew then what I know now, would never have let my Dad have it.

My Dad was showing some signs of confusion (very minor), but lived on his own and cooked, cleaned and drove. By confusion, it was sometimes forgetting what he was about to say - nothing significant. One night he called around 9:30pm and said that he needed to go to the hospital and would need a ride. I went over and took him in and he had a raging urinary tract and bladder infection (this causes some confusion as the infection can go into the brain), but the Emergency Doc also felt a blockage in his bowel. He had to have emergency surgery to untwist his bowel and in the process, the surgeon took out his appendix along with a piece of bowel and some adhesions. The first sign of trouble came when he was kept in recovery for 8 hours (we were told to expect one to two hours prior to the surgery). He seems foggy for a little while when he got to his room but then I got a call in the night to come to the hospital as he was being difficult. That was when we realized he was delusional. At first, we were told it would last 24-72 hours, but it actually was getting worse by the day. After a week, we were told that some people never really recover. We were devastated as we had truly believed this was a temporary situation. I happen to be a partner in Valentus Clinics, a company that focuses on Brain Optimization and we work with a few different technologies (advanced types of neurofeedback) with people who have had mild traumatic brain injuries, concussions, and other brain-based challenges. I asked the doctor if I could bring in the equipment and a technician to do sessions with my Dad. The Doctor allowed it as it's non-invasive and he knew it couldn't hurt. We did 6 sessions in the hospital - one 1.5 hour session per day - and after 6 sessions, his recovery was remarkable - he improved dramatically after the 5th session and even more after the 6th! We got him home (to my place) and are continuing to do sessions this week. He is currently 90% functional - aware of surroundings, day, place, what's going on, and can have a normal conversation. We still see that he is struggling with short term memory, which is a problem. We are hopeful that with a few more sessions, he will be able to return to his former self and life. There is hope....

Before my Mom had her first colonsocpy at age 86, for a couple of years she showed signs of very, very slight dementia. So slight that I didn't even think it could be early signs. Then a few days before the procdure and the day of it, she showed signs of extreme stress and crying and so scared of the proess. Since it's only slight sedation ,she came out of it with great sucess--until the doctor called me into her office so speak to me Mom had cancerous tumor the size of a plum in her large colon and needed surgery to remove it along with 6" of her colon that had to be reattached.
When I told her this, the downward spiral of stress, panic and fear took over. The operation was a complete success; But it pushed her demetia over the edge like night and day.n The anesthesia caused somthing in her brain to lose connetions, along with the stress and fear of the surgery.Her AL became so much advanced it frightened me. Now she needed a psycidatric geriratoin for meds. But the meds only helped a little bit ajnd her AP kept advancing. So yes, I do believe that anesthesia doesn't cause AL, but it surely does something to an elderly's brain that intesfies and advanced the small symptoms that could already been there: I already read a lot of posts on this site that already have said the same things that I've said. Doctor's , or some of then will deny this. But you would know better becuse you, me, and others are the ones who take Mom and Dad home to take care of them, the doctors just move onto another patient and forget our parents. I have lost a lot of respect for doctor during the years of my parents at doctors offices and at countless ER visits; (I pray that things go smoother for you star 42. May the Lord bless you with His guidance and His spriritual wisdom.

So sorry to hear about your husband. Anesthesia does cause a person to decline in most cases, happened to my Mom also after a 5 way bypass and hip surgery. You did what you thought was best and trusted the doctors. I also too my Mom home because she was going to get the best care possible. I felt if her head was happy, she would get better. She did, she not only walked again, she danced. Give him time and lots of love and hope for the best. Btw, its been 13 years since my moms heart surgery and 8 since her broken hip. She did great but had a stroke which took her voice and legs eventually. I still have her with me, still love her, and here she will stay.