Perioperative Extracellular Brain Free-Water Changes for Older Adults Electing Total Knee Arthroplasty with General versus Spinal Anesthesia: A Pilot Study

Background: Recent research shows that older adults electing to undergo total knee arthroplasty with general anesthesia have a pre- to postoperative acute increase in molecular free-water within their cerebral white matter. It is unknown if this change is similar for individuals who elect spinal anesthesia methods. Objective: To explore white matter microstructural changes in a pilot sample of older adults undergoing total knee arthroplasty and receiving general or spinal anesthesia. Methods: We assessed acute perioperative changes in brain white matter free-water in a limited number of older adults electing total knee arthroplasty under spinal anesthesia (n = 5) and matched groups of older adults who received general anesthesia (n = 5) or had no surgery (n = 5). Patterns of free-water changes were also compared in the larger group of older adults electing total knee arthroplasty under general anesthesia (n = 61) and older adults with chronic knee pain who received no surgical intervention (n = 65). Results: Our pilot results suggest older adults receiving general anesthesia had pre- to post-surgery free-water increases extensively throughout their white matter whereas those receiving spinal anesthesia appeared to have less consistent free-water increases. Conclusions: Our pilot results possibly suggest different patterns of perioperative brain white matter free-water changes based on anesthetic approach. We recommend future, larger studies to further examine the effects of anesthetic approach on perioperative brain free-water. The results of our study have potential implications for acute and chronic cognitive changes, perioperative complications, neurodegenerative processes including Alzheimer’s disease, and understanding neuroinflammation.