CAROTID ENDATORECTOMY AND GENERAL ANESTHESIA: Assessment and Evaluation of Cerebral Ischemic Damage With Clinical, Laboratory and Imaging Parameters

Carotid endarterectomy is a surgical procedure with special perioperative and postoperative requirements and potential major adverse events, which can occur rapidly and be life threatening, and compromise the functional and neuropsychiatric integrity of the patient. Stroke is the most frequent major complication both in the intraoperative and immediate postoperative period. The Anesthesiologist is required to ensure adequate cerebral circulation and oxygenation through the close regulation of hemodynamic parameters and the continuous monitoring of cerebral oximetry, with the aim of preventing the occurrence and establishment of cerebral ischemic lesions. The purpose of this study is to compare two anesthetic drugs (propofol and sevoflurane) during the maintenance of anesthesia in terms of their potential neuroprotective effect, which will be documented through clinical (gross neurological examination and MoCA test), laboratory (neuronal specific enolase NSE and human calcium-binding protein S100B) and imaging (MRI-diffusion) tests, which have proved to have high sensitivity and specificity for the early detection of ischemic brain lesions and cognitive deficits.