Coping with transient intellectual dysfunction after coronary bypass surgery.

Abstract

In summary, we believe that the impact of our findings on the patient and clinician includes recognition and acknowledgment that transient cognitive dysfunction frequently follows coronary bypass surgery. With this recognition comes the reassurance to the patient and his family that it is a temporary phenomenon that should resolve in time. To help the patient comply with his postoperative instructions during this difficult time period, there should be individual, slow-paced presentation of material with intentional repetition of information to help him remember the specific details of his postoperative instruction; the individual most involved with assisting in the patient's postoperative recovery should be included in all teaching sessions; and instructive audiovisual material should be used in postoperative home care.