Objective The objective of this study was to observed the effect of target control intravenous (TCI) anesthesia and intravenous inhalational anesthesia in the postoperative cognitive function in elderly patients with intracranial tumor at different time points.Methods Seventy patients were divided into the experimental and control groups according to the different methods of intraoperative anesthesia.The experimental group was selected to treat with propofol combined with remifentanil TCI anesthesia,and the control group was treated with intravenous anesthetics combined with inhalation isoflurance.Recovery time of respiration,time of opening eyes,extuation time,orientation recovery time,OAAS score before and after operation,and cognitive function (MMSE)were observed in two groups.Results They were no differences in the recovery time of respiration,time of opening eyes and extubation time in two groups (P ＞ 0.05).The orientation recovery time in the experimental group was 20.4 ± 5.8 min and 23.2 ± 4.3 min in the control group.They had significantly different between experimental and control groups (P ＜ 0.05).The time of extubation,leaving the operating room and after 1 h of extubation,OAAS point for the experimental group was 3.3 ± 0.5,4.2 ± 0.4,4.6 ± 0.6 min,respectively,and 2.3 ± 0.2,3.3± 0.4,3.9 ± 0.3 in the control group,respectively.They were significantly different between the experimental and control groups(P ＜ 0.05).Prior to treatment,there was no significant difference in MMSE score between the two groups(P ＞0.05).MMSE score was 25.0 ±0.4 and 27.9 ± 1.1 in the experimental group after treatment for 24 h and 48 h,respectively.MMSE score in the control group was 23.2 ±0.9 and 25.8 ± 1.3 after treatment for 24 and 48 h,respectively.There had a significant different from two groups (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion For elderly patients with intracranial tumor surgery,TCI anesthesia with propofol and remifentanil is stable and awake,and the effect on postoperative cognitive function is relatively small.