Why the study?
Does exposure to general anaesthesia in children less than 4 years of age cause subsequent learning disabilities and behavioural changes?
Does exposure to general anaesthesia in children less than 4 years of age cause subsequent learning disabilities and behavioural changes?
This narrative review highlights the ongoing clinical equipoise regarding the potential for general anaesthesia to cause developmental neurotoxicity in young children.
The long-term cerebral effects of general anaesthesia at the extremes of age are currently enjoying attention. In children, the concern is that exposure to anaesthesia when less than 4 years of age may cause subsequent learning disabilities and behavioural changes. However, clinical equipoise exists as the available human studies are imperfect and the results of the large-scale multinational trials are not yet available. This structured narrative review summarises the overwhelming amount of information available.Everything should be as simple as it can be, but not simpler. (Albert Einstein)
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Ramklass et al. (2016) studied this question.
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