Report from:
The 2nd International Conference on Paediatric Anaesthesia and Neurotoxicity –
From GAS to Future Collaborative Trials
Genoa, Italy 13-14th of May 2017
The impact of anesthesia on the developing brain is still a matter of intense debate within the scientific community. Due to the complexity of this field of research, and the potential significant impact on society, a group of pediatric anesthesia experts met in Genoa, Italy, May 13 – 14, 2017, for the “2nd International Conference on Paediatric Anaesthesia and Neurotoxicity. From GAS to Future Collaborative Trials”, endorsed by SmartTots and the European Society of Anaesthesiology.
The conference was funded in part by a grant provided by the Italian Ministry of Health to support the GAS Study (RF-2011-02347532). Twenty-eight experts formed the faculty and an additional thirty-five delegates attended the conference. During this two-day conference an overview of the existing literature was presented, as well as a review of the supporting evidence from pre-clinical and clinical studies. In particular, one full session was dedicated to current, ongoing studies and their preliminary results. Finally, in an extensive round table session, experts discussed the possible opportunities for future clinical and non-clinical studies.
The conference was an excellent opportunity to bring together the leaders in the field to address critical research issues of pediatric anesthesia in an interactive and comprehensive manner. Experts and delegates agreed that this field of research remains of high interest due to the potential impact on our society, and that there is great need for large, well performed collaborative research projects.