JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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Multicenter Study
Association Between a Single General Anesthesia Exposure Before Age 36 Months and Neurocognitive Outcomes in Later Childhood.
Exposure of young animals to commonly used anesthetics causes neurotoxicity including impaired neurocognitive function and abnormal behavior. The potential neurocognitive and behavioral effects of anesthesia exposure in young children are thus important to understand. ⋯ Among healthy children with a single anesthesia exposure before age 36 months, compared with healthy siblings with no anesthesia exposure, there were no statistically significant differences in IQ scores in later childhood. Further study of repeated exposure, prolonged exposure, and vulnerable subgroups is needed.