Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

General Anesthesia Exposure In Infancy Causes Long-Term Memory Deficits

Posted by Unknown on from the what-was-i-just-doing-again dept.

First time accepted submitter LordFlower (606949) writes "In a study, published today in Neuropsycopharmacology, exposure to general anesthesia in both human and rat infants was associated with long-term episodic memory deficits. Children aged 6 to 11 years exposed to general anesthesia during infancy had poorer episodic memory than age/gender matched controls. This deficit was replicated in rats using an analogous paradigm with full experimental control of pre-existing conditions could be exercised, suggesting a causal relation rather than correlational one. Prior research in rats suggests a mechanism of disrupted developmental synaptogenesis and apoptosis.

While a growing literature has demonstrated the presence of memory deficits and neurodegeneration in rats after general anesthesia exposure in infancy, this is the first to demonstrate a long-term deficit after exposure during human infancy. Given that each year 1.5 million infants undergo a surgery requiring general anesthesia, these findings are particularly alarming."

13 of 90 comments (clear)

  1. I never felt right after tonsillectomy by peter303 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is just an anecdote, not science. But that was the only time I had a general at age 5. That procedure was very common in those days. I never felt as good a muscular coordination aftwards as before. I am used to it after all these decades.

    1. Re:I never felt right after tonsillectomy by zzyzyx · · Score: 2

      This particular sentence is badly formulated, but the study concerned 6 to 11 year old children who had general anesthesia when they were less than 1 year old.

    2. Re:I never felt right after tonsillectomy by Prune · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Mod parent down for lack of reading comprehension. The study is on 6-11 year olds who were exposed to general anesthesia within their first year, not those who were exposed during their 6th to 11th year.

      --
      "Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."
  2. Research on Infant Dosages Needed by BoRegardless · · Score: 2

    Obviously this extends the need to define not only what differences exist between men and women, but between adults, teens, children and infants for anesthesiology and drug doses.

  3. Re:Doubtful by geekoid · · Score: 2

    NO, it dis not fly in the face of the current theory, and it's "Correlation does not imply causation".

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  4. Re:What Type by Hognoxious · · Score: 4, Funny

    Do the surgery without aesthetics. Then they'll wish they had a poor memory.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  5. Re:Doubtful by buswolley · · Score: 4, Informative

    Note that the study included an experimental manipulation of anesthetic exposure in a sample of rats. This was an experimental manipulation which means that the author's could make a much stronger claim for causation. As far as mechanisms, this is being explored but it appears to be something that normal processes of synaptogenesis and synaptic pruning.

    --

    A Good Troll is better than a Bad Human.

  6. Selection bias by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This suffers from heavy selection bias. Children who require general anesthesia in infancy overwhelmingly suffer from congenital malformations which portend a higher rate of subclinical CNS developmental malfunction typically manifesting as mild developmental delay. (I'm a pediatric surgeon).

    1. Re:Selection bias by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2

      I wondered about that. General surgery in infants is anything but common. You don't do it unless you have to. Certainly there are some other wise normal children who need general anesthesia - say from trauma, but many of them have pre existing conditions that makes them not a good 'normal'. Not sure how the rats figure into this though. What's a normal rat? A politician? A lawyer?

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    2. Re:Selection bias by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This is true. However, the complimentary data in rats, where pre-existing conditions were controlled, suggests that this is not the primary driver of these results in humans. Of course, there is a decently sized literature examining these effects in rats already; the dispute was whether it would be observed in humans. More research in humans is needed, of course, but I am sure you understand that experimental manipulation of anesthetic exposure in human infants is unethical. With more research money, I imagine researchers could find infants exposed to anesthesia during an MRI that was negative for problems. However, anytime you become more specific in your sampling requirements, the more it will cost. It needs to be done, but I cannot imagine that the funding would have been there to do this without these initial findings.

  7. Re:What Type by Khashishi · · Score: 2

    Circumcision is typically done without anesthetics.

  8. Re:WOW! by Khashishi · · Score: 2

    Guessing that anesthesia has long term effects on the brain certainly isn't news. But demonstrating it using a controlled experiment is news indeed.

  9. Re:What Type by riT-k0MA · · Score: 2

    I know you were making a joke, but before 1986 surgery (including major surgery) on infants was routinely performed without anaesthesia (they used a paralytic to keep the infant still), as it was thought that anaesthetic were harmful to infants and infants did not have a fully developed nervous system necessary to feel pain. For the same reasons infants and children were denied pain medication.
    Turns out that not only do infants feel pain like adults, but they still felt the pain from surgery as adults. The pain and trauma never went away so most of these adults suffer from a form of PTSD.