title: The uncomfortable reality … We simply do not know if general anesthesia negatively impacts the neurocognitive development of our small children.
abstract: Annually in the United States more than one million children under the age of 5 years are exposed to anesthetics for therapeutic and diagnostic procedures. Pre-clinical data in animal models has consistently shown that anesthetic exposure to the developing brain results in long-term cognitive deficits. Current clinical data addressing the safety of these pharmaceutical agents on the developing human brain is limited. Recently, there has been an enormous amount of attention directed at this potential public health issue in both pre-clinical investigations and ongoing human research. A number of these studies should add to our understanding about the impact anesthetic exposure will have on the developing human brain. Until then, there is little data that absolutely reassures clinicians and parents that the pharmaceutical agents used are indeed safe for our children. The uncomfortable reality is that despite the fact that there are more than one million children younger than 5 years old who receive general anesthesia in the United States annually, and thousands more who are deeply sedated for imaging and diagnostic studies or as a necessary adjunct to care in the intensive care unit, there is little data that assures clinicians and parents that the pharmaceutical agents used are indeed safe for the developing brain. That said, there are no convincing human data to suggest that they are not.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Montefiore Medical Center, University Hospital for Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 111 East 210th Street, Bronx, NY 10467-2490, USA. Electronic address: gmann@montefiore.org.
authors.forename: Glenn E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Montefiore Medical Center, University Hospital for Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 111 East 210th Street, Bronx, NY 10467-2490, USA. Electronic address: mkahana@montefiore.org.
authors.forename: Madelyn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kahana
mesh_terms: D000768:Anesthesia, General / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000777:Anesthetics / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000187:drug effects*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020258:Neurotoxicity Syndromes / Q000150:complications / Q000209:etiology*; D010290:Parents; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D000777:Anesthetics
keywords: Anesthesia; Anesthetic effect; Developing brain; Neurocognition; Neurotoxicity; Pediatrics