Neurological complications in cardiac surgery: a new view on an old problem

Abstract

In modern conditions, it is necessary to take into account many factors that affect both the course of the underlying disease and the course of postoperative rehabilitation and long-term results of surgical treatment to improve the results of treatment in cardiac surgery patients. One of these factors is neurological complications associated with cardiac surgery. The article represents a clinical classification of neurological complications of cardiac surgery with a description of the main pathophysiological mechanisms of their development, and the reasoning of a neurologist’s role expansion in the examination and treatment of cardiac surgery patients. Ranging patients according to the risk of developing neurological complications, working out individual protocols of neuroprotection, as well as the further study of pathophysiological mechanisms of nervous tissue damage with the identification of triggers for their prevention, will improve the results of cardiac surgery patients’ treatment and reduce the time of their postoperative recovery.