According to a recent retrospective analysis of more than 10,000 sibling pairs at the University of Toronto, exposure to surgery and anesthesia before entry into primary school did not increase the risk for adverse developmental outcomes compared with biological siblings who did not undergo surgery. (1)

The findings of a sibling-matched cohort study should reassure parents of young children that anesthesia for surgical procedures is safe at early ages at least in single cases of short duration.

Most children in the current study who were exposed to general anesthetic drugs had a single surgery performed that typically did not require lengthy exposure to anesthesia. Larger sample populations may be required to detect potentially small differences in child development outcomes.

The research was published in JAMA Pediatrics (2018. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2018.3662.