Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a postoperative complication that often occurs in the elderly.

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to compare intravenous anesthetics (propofol) with inhalation anesthetics (sevoflurane) regarding the occurrence of POCD in the elderly who underwent non-cardiac surgery.

The investigators searched for published articles from the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane, and Clinicalkey databases.

Clinical studies comparing the incidence of POCD in elderly patients undergoing intravenous or inhalation anesthesia in general were selected. Primary outcomes included the occurrence of POCD at 1, 3, and 7 days.

The secondary outcomes were the patient’s plasma S-100β protein levels (pg*mL−1) and delayed neurocognitive recovery incidence 5–7 days after surgery.