Brief exposure to General Anesthesia Might Cause No Cognitive Deficit in Infants

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/general-anesthesia-causes-no-cognitive-deficit-in-infants/?WT.mc_id=SA_HLTH_20151027

By Dina Fine Maron | October 24, 2015

Early-life exposure to anesthesia does not appear to lead to long-term cognitive problems, researchers announced today. New evidence from the first, randomized anesthesia trial in kids provides the strongest indication yet that exposing young children to anesthesia—at least for a brief time—will not saddle them with developmental deficits. The news comes just a couple of weeks after a medical advisory group reiterated its concerns about such exposures among children younger than four years. Previously, multiple animal and human studies have linked such exposure with cognitive impairment, but none of the information on humans came from a gold-standard, randomized study design that could help eliminate other reasons to explain such a connection.

This is a “reassuring finding, but it is not the final answer,” says Dean Andropoulos, anesthesiologist in chief at Texas Children’s Hospital and an expert who was not involved in the work. The new study assesses only what happens to youngsters after a relatively brief bout with anesthetics, so it is possible that longer or repeated exposures to such chemicals may still cause neurodevelopmental issues. There may also be deficits in anesthesia-exposed children that are not measurable until later in life.

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Numerous animal studies have indicated that anesthesia exposure early in life, when the brain is exceptionally sensitive, can lead to brain cell death and altered connections between neurons. The group also urged medical providers and parents to try to avoid using anesthetics during diagnostic procedures such as MRIs whenever possible.