Anaesthesia associated developmental neurotoxicity (AADN) 2015

Abstract

The long-term cerebral effects of general anaesthesia at the extremes of age are currently enjoying attention. In children, the concern is that exposure to anaesthesia when less than 4 years of age may cause subsequent learning disabilities and behavioural changes. However, clinical equipoise exists as the available human studies are imperfect and the results of the large-scale multinational trials are not yet available. This structured narrative review summarises the overwhelming amount of information available.