Prevention of Early Postoperative Decline (PEaPoD): protocol for a randomized, controlled feasibility trial

Delirium is associated with a significantly increased risk of postoperative morbidity and mortality. Furthermore, delirium has been associated with an increased risk of prolonged cognitive deficits and accelerated long-term cognitive decline. To date, experimental interventions for delirium have mainly focused on alternative pharmacologic and behavioral strategies in the postoperative period. Few studies have examined whether proactive strategies started before surgery can prevent delirium or reduce its sequelae. Neurocognitive training programs such as Lumosity have been shown to be effective in increasing cognitive performance in both elderly healthy volunteers and patients suffering from a myriad of acute and chronic medical conditions. When initiated in the preoperative period, such training programs may serve as interesting and novel patient-led interventions for the prevention of delirium and postoperative cognitive decline (POCD). We hypothesize that perioperative neurocognitive training is feasible in the older cardiac surgical population and are testing this hypothesis using a randomized controlled design.