• Haifeng Zhang, Lili Du, Zijing Du, Hao Jiang, Dong Han, and Qingfeng Li.
• Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, No. 639, Zhizaoju Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai, 200011, China.
• J Anesth. 2015 Oct 1; 29 (5): 749-57.

ObjectiveMany studies have been done to seek the relationship between general anesthesia and neurodevelopment in pediatrics. However, there is no unified conclusion, especially single anesthesia affecting a child before 3 and 4 years. The association between anesthesia and neurodevelopment is studied using a meta-analysis.MethodsWe summarized the currently available evidence by searching PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane library over the past 10 years. An evaluation of neurodevelopment including learning disability, behavioral disorders, and cognitive problems was conducted. We estimated the synthesized hazard ratios (HR) and 95 % confidence interval (CI) according to inter-study heterogeneity and analyzed the factors for this association using meta-regression method.ResultsThirteen eligible studies met the inclusion criteria. The neurodevelopment damage was associated with single general anesthesia before age of 4 (adjusted HR 1.28 95 % CI 1.10-1.45). The pooled adjusted HR was 1.17 (95 % CI 1.07-1.28, p = 0.001) before 4 years old after the influence analysis and the adjusted HR was 1.18 (95 % CI 1.07-1.30, p = 0.001) before 3 years old. There was no significant difference between 3 and 4 years exposed to single general anesthesia (HR3/HR4 = 1.008, p = 0.9). Due to limitations of retrospective studies, prospective investigations are needed to determine whether anesthesia is causative.ConclusionsThe current evidence suggests a modestly elevated risk of neurodevelopmental disorders exists in children near 3 years of age. A single general anesthesia is relatively safe after 3 years, as the outcome is very close before 3 and 4 years old.

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