Major surgery doubles risk of substantial brain decline, study suggests

Author: Sarah Knapton

Major surgery doubles the chance of experiencing a substantial decline in mental skills, such as reasoning, memory and language ability, a new study suggests. ​

Doctors and scientists have long feared that general anaesthetic, mini-strokes or inflammation may damage the brain during surgery, but there has been little evidence to show a long-term impact.

Now a longitudinal study of more than 7,000 British civil servants who were tested between 1997 and 2016 found those who underwent major operations were twice as likely to suffer substantial cognitive decline compared to those who never needed surgery. 

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