Articles: anesthetics.
-
Editorial Comment
Volatile versus intravenous anaesthesia and perioperative neurocognitive disorders: anything to see here?
There is a potential differential effect of sevoflurane compared with propofol on postoperative delirium and other perioperative neurocognitive disorders. More generally, there are perhaps differences between volatile and intravenous anaesthetic agents in their possible impact on perioperative neurocognitive disorders. Strengths and limitations of a recent study in this journal and its contribution to our understanding of the impact of anaesthetic technique on perioperative neurocognitive disorders are discussed.
-
Over the past two decades there has been an increase in reports of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder and perhaps autism spectrum disorder that appear to coincide with a substantial number of general anaesthesia interventions during early stages of human brain development. Is there a link between anaesthesia exposure and neurocognitive effects considering the growing body of evidence in numerous animal species, including humans, that suggests long-lasting socio-affective behavioural impairments after early exposure to general anaesthesia? Could routinely used general anaesthetics contribute as environmental toxins? Here we present the case that this notion is worthy of further consideration.