The New York Times, FEB. 25, 2015
Faced with mounting evidence that general anesthesia may impair brain development in babies and young children, experts said Wednesday that more research is greatly needed and that when planning surgery for a child, parents and doctors should consider how urgently it is required, particularly in children younger than 3 years.
In the United States each year, about a million children younger than 4 have surgery with general anesthesia, according to the Food and Drug Administration.