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My 72 year old husband has Dementia brought on by anesthesia poisoning used during 2 surgeries he had that were close together.

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My wife has a stroke during a knee replacement surgery that resulted in Vascular Dementia.
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Reply to jwellsy
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Delerium has a high mortality rate. The Mayo Clinic has a lot of information but you can also Google. Scholarly articles on delerium. Surgeries may cause it but surgeries are also medically necessary to prolong life at the risk of delerium. Age and dementia also fit into the mix.
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Reply to MACinCT
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My husband has Parkinson’s no dementia since 2015 officially.
Had 4 surgeries in last 4-5 years and never experienced any side effects or delirium.
However, 2 months ago went to hospital with acute pain, unidentified infection or so they said.
But he developed delirium. It was unbelievable to see him in that state of agitation. He is stoic, rational type.
Drs dismissed that as normal hospital delirium.
What I read about it is horrifying, especially if underlying condition is not treated.
He had neurological department to test and do scans so dementia was eliminated as this came on quickly and went away after a week. Dementia is slower and progressive.
Make sure they check for infections etc.
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Reply to Evamar
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This happened after my mother's last 2 surgeries that were about 2 weeks apart. She had mild dementia for years - but after the surgeries, while still hospitalized, she went off the deep end for about a week. She went on an extremely cruel verbal rampage out of the blue at my sister while we were there - causing my sister extreme anguish. Mother accused the other patients in the room of having orgies every night. She called the person in the next bed "a big fat pig", she called one of her attending physicians "Javert" (Les Miserables)..the ward nurses said this was typical post surgery ICU delirium. The ultra wacky behavior went on for about 3 more days and slowly Mother regained her "normal" equilibrium. Hope your husband recovers quickly from the surgeries.
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Reply to LostinPlace
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Anesthesia does not poison someone, but it can make ones dementia worse after a surgery, and can even cause dementia type symptoms if no dementia was present prior to the surgery.
Often the effects from the anesthesia will subside after a few weeks or several months, but sometimes that damage is permanent. And it's my understanding that the older you are the worse it can be.
My late husband had surgery while having vascular dementia at the age of 70 to have a supra pubic catheter placed, and the anesthesia made his dementia much worse for a few weeks. Thankfully though after a few weeks he went back to his pre-surgery dementia self.
I pray that your husband will improve over time.
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Reply to funkygrandma59
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I don’t know whether this is the same thing or similar.

My MIL was hospitalized a few times over the course of 1-2 years with COPD crises. She was intubated and sedated for a couple of days each time. At the time she was in her mid to late 70s and had a slow-progressing leukemia in addition to COPD. She did not have dementia. Anyway, this one time, when they awoke her from one intubation and sedation, she very quickly developed what the nurses called “hospital psychosis” which involved her not being oriented to reality and her doing a lot of screaming and accusations that hospital personnel and visitors were trying to steal from her or kill her and that she was so scared to fall asleep for fear she would die in her sleep that she kept insisting someone must stay at her side 24/7 to “watch her breathe.” it was extremely unpleasant for everyone involved. I don’t blame anyone at the hospital. It passed as soon as she got home.

One daughter eventually convinced her to accept home hospice and she died fairly peacefully at home with all her children around her. Though she still sometimes said she thought the aides were trying to steal from her.
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Reply to Suzy23
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Not exactly the same thing as my mom did not have anesthesia, but after her last hospital stay, which was actually short in comparison to the others (3 days), she developed horrible and crippling anxiety with repetitive behaviors (temperature checking, bill paying checking, other more private things, bad dreams, we had to sit with her almost constantly, shadowing of my father).


She nearly always develops these issues while in hospital and upon coming home.


It has taken since July with a psych nurse practitioner and getting her up to a full dose of an antidepressant to bring her back to baseline. Our job 1 daily is to keep her OUT of the hospital the best we can.

I was certain we were at Dementia with her but we were not. I pray your husband gets back to baseline. How long ago did this happen? Has he now been diagnosed with Dementia? Forgive me I have not read your profile.
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Reply to casole
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As an old retired RN I can assure you that doctors and anesthesiologists have been denying this happens for many decades, and RNs have seen it happen for many decades. New research does admit it is happening, though the degree to which it happens is in question.
Many members have posted on AgingCare about their experiences with the phenomenon.

As an RN, of course, I seldom knew the outcome. We were always assured this was "hospitalization delirium" and it would pass as soon as our patient returned to his/her normal home environment. I very much doubt that. It could be true in some cases and not true in others.

Your best source of information may be found online, and I would continue to research it all you can there.

If you are feeling there may be some compensation, given the level of lack of proven research and lack of agreement about the mere existence of the phenomenon I think you will get nowhere. Lawsuits involving malpractice almost always go nowhere in this day and age given the small recompense of 250,000 and the inability of any attorney to handle a case requiring proof of expert witnesses. It does you no harm to go to an attorney or two, but when they speak of you investing your OWN money instead of contingencies, you know you are done; time to leave the office. Your best chance at being compensated for injury is when the patient injured will LIVE but require ongoing care the rest of their lives. So you DO have a chance.

I hope you will feel free to give us more information:
a. Your husband's condition before the surgery?
b. Type of surgery and how long he was under anesthesia?
c. His condition now and whether there is any amount of improvement over time, and the amount of time since the surgery?
d, What research you have done?
e. What the response of MDs has been and what TYPE of MD has he been examined by since his surgery?

Otherwise I will wish you the best, hope you will update us, and recommend the search bar on the timeline above: type in Anesthesia and it should bring up a host of questions and answers. Good luck. And I am so very sorry.
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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How long ago did he have the 2nd surgery with anesthesia? I'm asking because it's possible that his current delirium is short-term and his cognitive functions will return over the course of several days. Some dementia-like symptoms can occur if he is dehydrated, has a UTI, or maybe a more serious post-op infection (like sepsis) so I would make sure these things are addressed right away.

This is from the American Association of Anesthesiologists website:

"Here are two anesthesia-related surgery risks that are more common in older people:

Postoperative delirium – 
This is one of the most common complications after surgery in older adults. It is a temporary condition in which the patient is confused, disoriented, and unaware of surroundings and has problems with memory and paying attention. It may not start until a few days after surgery, may come and go, and usually disappears after about a week.

Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) – 
This is a more serious condition that can lead to long-term memory loss and make it difficult to learn, concentrate, and think. Certain conditions, including heart disease (especially congestive heart failure), lung disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and a personal history of stroke, increase your risk for POCD."

Does your husband have any of these pre-existing conditions prior to his first surgery: heart disease (especially congestive heart failure), lung disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and a personal history of stroke?
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Reply to Geaton777
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