Abstract:Objective To investigate the effects of esketamine induction and maintenance on hemodynamics and cerebral oxygen metabolism in elderly patients undergoing gastric cancer surgery.Methods A total of 102 patients scheduled for gastric cancer surgery at Tangshan Workers' Hospital between January 2023 and January 2025 were enrolled and randomly assigned to either an observation group or a control group (n = 51 each) using a random number table. Patients in the observation group received continuous intravenous infusion of esketamine at 0.25 mg/(kg·h) starting from anesthesia induction and maintained at the same rate until 30 minutes before the end of surgery. The control group received an equivalent volume of normal saline at the corresponding time points, while all other anesthetic induction and maintenance drugs were identical between the two groups. Heart rate (HR) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were recorded at the following time points: before anesthesia (T0), at skin incision (T1), 15 minutes after surgery initiation (T2), and at the end of surgery (T3). Eye-opening time, extubation time, post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) stay duration, and postoperative hospital stay were compared. Neurological function markers [central nervous system-specific protein β (S100β), neuron-specific enolase (NSE) ] and cerebral metabolism parameters [jugular venous oxygen saturation (SjvO2), cerebral arteriovenous oxygen content difference (Da-jvO2), cerebral oxygen extraction rate (CERO2) ] were measured before surgery and 24 hours postoperatively. Adverse reactions were also recorded.Results A repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to compare MAP and HR between the two groups at T0, T1, T2, and T3. The results showed that: There were statistically significant differences in MAP and HR across different time points (P < 0.05); there were statistically significant differences in MAP and HR between the observation group and the control group (P < 0.05), with the observation group demonstrating more stable MAP and HR. the trends of change in MAP and HR over time were significantly different between the two groups (P < 0.05). The postoperative hospital stay was significantly shorter in the observation group compared to the control group (P < 0.05). At 24 hours postoperatively, the levels of S100β and NSE in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05), and the changes in S100β and NSE levels from pre- to post-operation were also smaller in the observation group (P < 0.05). Similarly, at 24 hours postoperatively, the SjvO2 in the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group, while the Da-jvO2 and CERO2 were significantly higher (P < 0.05). The changes in SjvO2, Da-jvO2, and CERO2 from pre- to post-operation were also more favorable in the observation group compared to the control group (P < 0.05). No statistically significant difference was found in the overall incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups (P > 0.05).Conclusion Esketamine induction and maintenance helps maintain intraoperative hemodynamic stability, improves postoperative cerebral oxygen metabolism, shortens postoperative hospital stay, and does not increase the overall incidence of adverse reactions in elderly patients undergoing gastric cancer surgery.