This single-center, prospective pilot study will evaluate dietary fat intake and its association with preoperative inflammatory markers and perioperative neurocognitive disorders in older surgical patients. The study will assess the feasibility of obtaining detailed dietary information in a surgical population and will establish baseline dietary information in older adults.
Participants will complete diet assessments prior to surgery, provide blood samples totaling up to 32 mL (with up to 16 mL collected before surgery and up to 16 mL collected the morning after surgery), and-when available-have up to 1 mL of cerebrospinal fluid collected during their clinically indicated spinal anesthesia procedure. Blood and cerebrospinal fluid samples will be analyzed for inflammatory markers.
Cognitive assessments will be performed to evaluate perioperative neurocognitive disorders. Participants will complete a baseline preoperative telephone cognitive assessment to determine cognitive status. Delirium assessments will be conducted twice daily from immediately after surgery until discharge, supplemented by chart review. At three months after surgery, the telephone cognitive assessment will be repeated and compared with the baseline score to estimate persistent neurocognitive disorder.
