Memory During Anesthesia: the Role of Stress Hormones

Catholic University of the Sacred Heart

Status: Unknown

Conditions: Surgical Procedure, Unspecified

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01146405

918/09

Details and patient eligibility

About

1. To investigate whether the auditory stimulation causes changes in hormones levels (cortisol+prolactin) during general anesthesia.
2. To determine if there is a correlation between hormones levels (cortisol+prolactin) and dreams recall.
3. To investigate whether, in patients receiving auditory stimulation, there is a correlation between hormones levels (cortisol+prolactin), serum remifentanil concentration and detection of implicit memory.
4. To investigate the presence of primary auditory cortex activation (temporal lobe) in patients with implicit memory and in those with dreams recall using the EEG-ERP 128 channels GES300 EGI system.

Full description

Patients from group A, during maintenance of anesthesia, at the time of trocar insertion, will listen (via MP3) a piece of one of two stories, "Puss in Boots" and "Pinocchio", each followed by four keywords. In group B, patients will be isolated from the sounds of the operating room using specific headphones.

Enrollment: 110 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 70 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Age between 18 and 70 years old
• Class-ASA Physical Status I-II

Exclusion criteria

• Psychiatric or neurological disorders and/or hearing disorders
• Obesity (Body Mass Index > 30)
• Drug addiction, alcoholism
• Patients with an education level below middle school
• Patients with difficulty in understanding the Italian language
• Patients treated with corticosteroids and/or estrogens, pregnant patients and patients suffering from hypercorticism