Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) involves patient memory and learning decline after surgery. POCD not only presents challenges for postoperative nursing and recovery but may also cause permanent brain damage for patients, including children and the aged, with vulnerable central nervous systems. Its occurrence is mainly influenced by surgical trauma, anesthetics, and the health condition of the patient. There is a lack of imaging and experimental diagnosis; therefore, patients can only be diagnosed by clinical observation, which may underestimate the morbidity, resulting in decreased treatment efficacy. Except for symptomatic support therapy, there is a relative lack of effective drugs specific for the treatment of POCD, because the precise mechanism of POCD remains to be determined. One current hypothesis is that postoperative inflammation promotes the progression of POCD. Accumulating research has indicated that overactivation of NOD-, LRR- and pyrin domain–containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasomes contribute to the POCD progression, suggesting that targeting NLRP3 inflammasomes may be an effective therapy to treat POCD. In this review, we summarize recent studies and systematically describe the pathogenesis, treatment progression, and potential treatment options of targeting NLRP3 inflammasomes in POCD patients.

术后认知功能障碍 (POCD) 涉及手术后患者的记忆力和学习能力下降。POCD 不仅给术后护理和康复带来挑战，而且可能对中枢神经系统脆弱的患者（包括儿童和老年人）造成永久性脑损伤。其发生主要受手术创伤、麻醉剂和患者健康状况的影响。缺乏影像学和实验诊断；因此，患者只能通过临床观察来诊断，这可能低估了发病率，导致治疗效果下降。除对症支持治疗外，目前相对缺乏治疗 POCD 的有效药物，因为 POCD 的确切机制仍有待确定。目前的一种假设是术后炎症促进了 POCD 的进展。越来越多的研究表明，含有 NOD-、LRR- 和 pyrin 结构域的蛋白 3（NLRP3）炎症小体的过度激活有助于 POCD 的进展，表明靶向 NLRP3 炎症小体可能是治疗 POCD 的有效疗法。在这篇综述中，我们总结了最近的研究，并系统地描述了 POCD 患者靶向 NLRP3 炎症小体的发病机制、治疗进展和潜在的治疗选择。