Joint professional guidance on the use of general anaesthesia in young children
UPDATE – September 2019
Joint professional guidance on the use of general anaesthesia in young children
Issued by:
Association of Paediatric Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland
Royal College of Anaesthetists
Association of Anaesthetists
The College of Anaesthesiologists of Ireland
Please read the full guidance on RCOA website. (link)
Executive summary
- Studies on immature animals have demonstrated that general anaesthetic agents can induce changes in the central nervous system. Some of these studies have also suggested longer-term effects on learning and memory tests.
- To date the results from both epidemiological studies and prospective trials in the human infant have failed to show adverse effects on cognitive development from a single anaesthetic episode of short duration (less than an hour). Data from longer exposures and multiple exposures to surgery and anaesthesia are difficult to interpret due to multiple confounding variables.
- Continuing to use reliable familiar techniques for paediatric anaesthesia is emphasised. There is no evidence of a particular anaesthetic technique being better than another in terms of influencing any potential long-term neurological effects in humans.
- Parents/carers enquiring about the neurological effects of anaesthesia in their infant should be advised that surgery is carried out in infants only when necessary and that there is no indication of a long-term neurological effect from a single anaesthesia exposure. They should be referred to the current advice to parents on the APAGBI website.
- We do not regard a discussion of the potential influence of infant anaesthesia on long term cognitive development as mandatory at every preoperative.
