You may experience a brief disruption in service on Sunday, February 23, between the hours of 3 a.m. and 10 a.m. (CT) due to scheduled website maintenance.
Our password reset feature is not functioning properly and we apologize for the inconvenience. We are working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. Contact [email protected] for assistance.
Menu

Brain Health

Advocating for You: Protecting and preserving the brain function of every patient undergoing a surgical procedure or intervention.
Promoting brain health for older adults around the time of surgery.

Why This Matters

With more than 46 million Americans over the age of 65, postoperative delirium is a major public health issue in this vulnerable population.

In 2015, then-ASA President Daniel J. Cole, M.D., proposed a new patient safety initiative — the Brain Health Initiative — to engage a multidisciplinary group to work with providers, payers and the public to create a low-barrier access program to minimize the impact of pre-existing cognitive deficits, and optimize the cognitive recovery and perioperative experience for adults 65 years and older undergoing surgery.

What You Should Know

  • Postoperative delirium and delayed cognitive recovery are complications of significance to the elderly surgical population.
  • The incidence of postoperative delirium ranges from 5 to 15 percent. However, with certain high-risk groups such as patients with hip fracture, the range can be between 16 to 62 percent.
  • Immediately after surgery, the incidence of delayed cognitive recovery is high with recovery over a period of months.
  • Postoperative delirium is associated with significant postoperative complications.

ASA’s PBHI Vision Statement

All Physician Anesthesiologists implement current guidelines and scientific advances to protect and preserve the brain function of every patient undergoing a surgical procedure or intervention.

ASA’s PBHI Mission Statements

  • We promote routine preoperative screening for specific risk factors for perioperative neurocognitive disorders (e.g., delirium, postoperative cognitive decline)
  • We promote evidence-based perioperative strategies to prevent, identify, and treat perioperative neurocognitive disorders
  • We provide education about perioperative neurocognitive disorders for patients and providers

 

What You Can Do Now

 

Read the latest Perioperative Brain Health Initiative News

  

 

Explore Additional Resources

Brain Health Infographics
›
Preparing for Surgery Checklist
›
Key Questions for patients
›
Six tips to reduce confusion in older patients after surgery
›

 

This page is curated by the ASA Department of Practice Innovation and Implementation and was last updated February 2023.