Concerns about anaesthesia-related neurological injury in young children have been increasing among parents, health-care providers, and regulatory organisations. These concerns were first prompted by animal studies that showed accelerated apoptosis and neuronal death after exposure to general anaesthetic drugs. Most commonly used general anaesthetic drugs have since been found to cause pervasive adverse neurological effects in vitro and in immature animals, including non-human primates. This issue gained widespread prominence in 2017, when the US Food and Drug Administration issued a safety communication stating that the use of general anaesthetic drugs “for lengthy periods of time or over multiple surgeries or procedures may negatively affect brain development in children younger than 3 years”. Subsequently, warnings were added to the labels for these medicines.
Recent Posts
- Prenatal Exposure to General Anesthesia Drug Esketamine Impaired Neurobehavior in Offspring.
- Needle in a Haystack: Localising the Long-Term Neuronal Changes from Early-Life Exposure to General Anaesthesia.
- Toll-Like Receptor 4 Deficiency Ameliorates Propofol-Induced Impairments of Cognitive Function and Synaptic Plasticity in Young Mice.
- Whole-Brain Characterization of Apoptosis after Sevoflurane Anesthesia Reveals Neuronal Cell Death Patterns in the Mouse Neonatal Neocortex.
- Apamin, an SK2 Inhibitor, Attenuated Neonatal Sevoflurane Exposures Caused Cognitive Deficits in Mice through the Regulation of Hippocampal Neuroinflammation.