PeCAN program promotes brain health by reducing surgery and anesthesia risks

Price PhotoCatherine Price, Ph.D., an associate professor of clinical health and psychology and anesthesiology, was recently featured in a video by Ivanhoe Broadcast News highlighting the Perioperative Cognitive Anesthetic Network program, or PeCAN.

PeCAN assesses how the brain interacts with surgery and anesthesia. This new program is the result of more than a decade of work aimed at understanding how a patient’s brain integrity prior to surgery could impact the recovery process, specifically with the goal of uncovering any increased risk for delirium, cognitive change and even mortality.

“Approximately a third of the individuals were having changes in their memory and thinking after having anesthesia and surgery,” Price said.

Click here to read the story and see the video below.