The downside of paediatric general anaesthesia
Study finds it can affect children's development
27th April 2018
Exposure to general anaesthetic up to age four raises the risk of poor development and reduced literacy and numeracy as measured by school tests, according to a new study.
Led by the University of Sydney, the research is based on a data-linkage study of more than 210,000 children.
It found that, compared with a control group, those exposed to general anaesthesia had a:
- 17% increased risk of poor child development.
- 34% increased risk of lower numeracy scores on school tests.
- 23%