International journal of obstetric anesthesia
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Int J Obstet Anesth · Feb 2021
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyGeneral anesthesia for cesarean delivery and childhood neurodevelopmental and perinatal outcomes: a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.
In 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expressed concern that neurodevelopment may be negatively affected by anesthesia or sedation exposure in pregnancy or before three years of age. We examined the association between general anesthesia at the time of cesarean delivery and early childhood neurodevelopment. ⋯ General anesthesia for cesarean delivery was not associated with overall neurodevelopmental delay at two years of age, except for greater odds of severe motor delay. Future studies should evaluate this finding, as well as the impact on neurodevelopment of longer or multiple anesthetic exposures across all gestational ages.