Does early childhood anesthesia exposure increase the risk of cognitive deficit in children?
The choice of outcome measure significantly influences the detected risk of cognitive deficits following early childhood anesthesia exposure, explaining variation in the literature.
When assessing cognition in children with early exposure to anesthesia, the results may depend on the outcome measure used. Neuropsychological and International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification-coded clinical outcomes showed an increased risk of deficit in exposed children compared with that in unexposed children, whereas academic achievement scores did not. This may explain some of the variation in the literature and underscores the importance of the outcome measures when interpreting studies of cognitive function.
Ing et al. (2014) studied this question.