Early Exposure to Anesthesia
Maria Dalamagka Repeated exposure to anesthesia for early-life surgeries may lead to neurodevelopmental problems in children, new research suggests. A large cohort study showed that children who underwent 2 or more anesthetic/surgery episodes before the age of 2 years had a nearly 2-fold increased risk for developing learning disabilities (LDs) by their late teens compared with their counterparts who had not received anesthesia. Receiving multiple early-age exposures was also significantly associated with the need for school-based individualized educational programs (IEPs) related to speech and language impairment and for lower scores on tests of cognitive ability and academic achievemen "It's important to reassure parents that single exposures to anesthesia don't seem to be associated with a problem and that the need for repeated surgeries among young children is relatively unusual," added Dr. Flick. "This is likely to affect a relatively small number of child...