Progress in the clinical research on the effects of early anesthetic exposure on the development of neurological system function in children

The number of pediatric surgery grows every year. Some studies found that long or repeated exposure to general anesthetics may affect the development of neurological system function in children. This finding is supported by a large number of animal researches currently, without sufficient clinical evidence. This review was to explore the effects of early anesthetic exposure on long-term neurodevelopment in children, so as to provide guidance to determine treatment method and surgery time. This review summarized the latest research progresses, and analyzed the association between early anesthetic exposure in childhood and long-term neurodevelopmental deficits and the sensitive period of the age exposed to anesthesia. At present, clinical researches involve different age populations and types of outcomes. Therefore, the interpretation of outcomes needs the combination of the age exposed to anesthesia, duration of exposure, sample size, outcome indicators, and other factors. It is found that anesthesia exposure in early childhood is associated with long-term neurological deficits, and affected by the frequency of anesthetic exposure to some extent. Key words: Children; Anesthesia; Neurotoxicity; Neurodevelopment