Objective To investigate the effects of different fractions of inspired oxygen administered during general anesthesia on post-operative recovery in patients undergoing laparoscopic hernia repair and hysterectomy in a sub-plateau region.Methods Clinical data of 111 patients undergoing laparoscopic hernia repair and hysterectomy under general anesthesia were collected from the People's Hospital of Datong Hui and Tu Autonomous County between April 2022 and November 2023.Based on the concentration of inhaled oxygen during general anesthesia,patients were randomly divided into three groups:100%oxygen(n=36),80%oxygen(n=38),and 60%oxygen(n=37).Respiratory-related parameters,including arterial partial pressure of oxygen(PaO2),arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide(PaCO2),and oxygenation index(OI),were compared among the three groups before anesthesia induction,30 min after pneumoperito-neum,and 1 d after surgery.Postoperative pulmonary complications,incision infections,first gastrointestinal exhaust time,and length of hospitalization were recorded.Postoperative delirium and cognitive function were also assessed.Results At 30 min after pneumoperi-toneum induction,the OI in the 60%oxygen group was higher than that in the 100%oxygen group(P=0.009),whereas there was no sta-tistical difference in OI between the 80%oxygen and 100%oxygen groups(P>0.05).PaO2 and OI were lower(P<0.05)and PaCO2 was higher(P<0.05)in all groups on the 1st day after surgery than before the induction of anesthesia.PaO2 and OI were higher in the 80%oxygen group than in the 100%oxygen group(all P<0.05).PaO2 and OI were higher in the 60%oxygen group than in the 100%oxygen and 80%oxygen groups(all P<0.05).PaCO2 was lower in the 60%oxygen group than in the 100%oxygen group(P<0.001).The first gastrointestinal exhaust time was shorter in the 60%oxygen group than in the 100%oxygen group(P=0.019).No postoperative incision infections were observed in any of the three groups,and there were no statistically significant differences in the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications,length of hospitalization,incidence of postoperative delirium,and cognitive dysfunction among the three groups(all P>0.05).Conclusion During general anesthesia for patients undergoing laparoscopic hernia repair and hysterectomy in a sub-pla-teau region,appropriately reducing the concentration of inspired oxygen(60%)is beneficial for postoperative respiratory and gastrointes-tinal function recovery without increasing the incidence of incision infections,postoperative delirium,and cognitive dysfunction.