Article Notes
Article pearls, summaries and comments.
Anaesthesia-related neurotoxicity in the developing brain has been observed in animal models and suggested by observational human trials. Conclusive, quality evidence directing significant practice change is however lacking. Anaesthetists should be aware of the current evidence and future directions of research into this important area.
This analysis is not practice-changing, but instead highlights our continued lack of understanding of the outcome benefit (or not) of neuraxial versus general anaesthesia in high risk patient groups.
Interestingly, it is also a meta-analysis of meta-analyses, demonstrating that there are limits to the answers that re-analysing existing data may provide.