NEED TO KNOW
As many of my close friends and family member know, I have privately talked about how anesthesia given to my son Justin when he was two years old for his little medical procedure had some side effects that slowed down his motor skills for a while.
New research, as part of the Raine Study, has found that children who had anesthesia before the age of 3, may be at a higher risk for developmental issues as they grow older.
The study, which examined more than 2,600 children in Australia, says that by the age of 10, children who’d been exposed to anesthesia at a young age were more than twice as likely to have developmental issues with listening and speaking comprehension later in life.
While previous studies relied on test scores, physician’s diagnoses and medical records, this is the only study that has used neuropsychological tests to determine developmental delay.
The lead author of the study Dr. Caleb Ing, assistant professor of pediatric anesthesiology at Columbia University Medical Center, said, “We can’t determine if the cause is due to anesthesia, surgical stimulus, or the medical condition. It could be another factor entirely. We just know there’s a difference.”
Dr. David Warner, professor of anesthesiology at Mayo Clinic, added, “It may be the surgery; it could be the underlying illness.”
The group of children was also tested for behavior and motor function, but research showed no significant difference in these skills between children who’d had anesthesia and those who hadn’t.
Although there are risks, Ing expressed that further study needs to be done and that there is not evidence to change current practices.
The full study comes out in the September issue of Pediatrics.
