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Published on: May 12, 2018
Anesthetic Exposure During Childhood and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Charles Reighard1, Shaqif Junaid1, William M Jackson1
1Department of Anesthesiology, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York.
Insights
General anesthesia exposure in children is linked to poorer outcomes in academics, behavior, cognition, and motor skills. This meta-analysis highlights domain-specific neurodevelopmental deficits following anesthetic exposure in pediatric patients.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Anesthesiology
- Neurodevelopmental Pediatrics
- Evidence Synthesis
Background:
- Clinical studies on neurodevelopmental outcomes post-anesthetic exposure yield mixed results.
- Understanding the specific impacts of general anesthesia on child development is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To conduct meta-analyses examining associations between general anesthesia exposure and domain-specific neurodevelopmental outcomes in children.
- To synthesize existing evidence on the neurodevelopmental effects of pediatric anesthesia.
Main Methods:
- Searched multiple databases (PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, Cochrane Library) up to August 2021.
- Included studies on individuals under 18 exposed to general anesthesia, excluding those with major comorbidities or lacking controls.
- Utilized random-effects modeling for data pooling and meta-analysis.
Main Results:
- Analyzed 31 studies involving over 63,000 exposed and 311,000 unexposed children.
- Found significantly worse scores in behavioral problems, academics, cognition, executive function, general development, language, motor function, and nonverbal reasoning for exposed children.
- Reported higher incidences of neurodevelopmental disorder diagnoses in children exposed to general anesthesia.
Conclusions:
- Results support the hypothesis that anesthetic exposure in childhood is associated with neurodevelopmental deficits.
- The impact of anesthesia varies across different neurodevelopmental domains.
- Findings underscore the importance of considering domain-specific outcomes when evaluating anesthetic effects on child development.
Importance:
Clinical studies of neurodevelopmental outcomes after anesthetic exposure have evaluated a range of outcomes with mixed results.
Objective:
To examine via meta-analyses the associations between exposure to general anesthesia and domain-specific neurodevelopmental outcomes in children.
Data Sources:
PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library were searched from inception to August 31, 2021.
Study Selection:
Inclusion criteria were exposures to procedures requiring general anesthesia at younger than 18 years and evaluation of long-term neurodevelopmental function after exposure. Studies lacking unexposed controls or focused on children with major underlying comorbidities were excluded.
Data Extraction And Synthesis:
Extracted variables included effect size; hazard, risk, or odds ratio; number of exposures; procedure type; major comorbidities; age of exposure and assessment; presence of unexposed controls; and study design. Studies were independently reviewed by 2 coders, and review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Data were pooled using a random-effects model.
Main Outcomes And Measures:
The main outcomes were standardized mean differences (SMD) for scores in the neurodevelopmental domains of academics, behavioral problems, cognition, executive function, general development, language, motor function, nonverbal reasoning, social cognition, and hazard and risk of neurodevelopmental disorder diagnoses.
Results:
A total of 31 studies contributed data for meta-analysis. For each of the assessed neurodevelopmental domains, the numbers of children evaluated ranged from 571 to 63 315 exposed and 802 to 311 610 unexposed. Children with any exposure (single or multiple) had significantly worse behavioral problems scores, indicating more behavioral problems (SMD, -0.10; 95% CI, -0.18 to -0.02; P = .02), and worse scores in academics (SMD, -0.07; 95% CI -0.12 to -0.01; P = .02), cognition (SMD, -0.03; 95% CI, -0.05 to 0.00; P = .03), executive function (SMD, -0.20; 95% CI, -0.32 to -0.09; P < .001), general development (SMD, -0.08; 95% CI, -0.13 to -0.02; P = .01), language (SMD, -0.08; 95% CI, -0.14 to -0.02; P = .01), motor function (SMD, -0.11; 95% CI, -0.21 to -0.02; P = .02), and nonverbal reasoning (SMD, -0.15; 95% CI, -0.27 to -0.02; P = .02). Higher incidences of neurodevelopmental disorder diagnoses were also reported (hazard ratio, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.09 to 1.30; P < .001; risk ratio, 1.81; 95% CI, 1.25 to 2.61; P = .002).
Conclusions And Relevance:
These findings support the hypothesis that associations between anesthetic exposure during childhood and subsequent neurodevelopmental deficits differ based on neurodevelopmental domain.
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