EconPapers    
Economics at your fingertips  
 

Neurocognitive Adverse Effects of Anesthesia in Adults and Children: Gaps in Knowledge

Christopher G. Ward () and Roderic G. Eckenhoff
Additional contact information
Christopher G. Ward: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Roderic G. Eckenhoff: Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Drug Safety, 2016, vol. 39, issue 7, No 2, 613-626

Abstract: Abstract Numerous preclinical and clinical studies investigating the neurodevelopmental and neurocognitive effects of exposure to anesthesia and the combination of anesthesia and surgery have demonstrated histopathological and both temporary and long-term cognitive and behavioral effects at the extremes of the human age spectrum. Increasing coverage in the lay press for both our youngest and oldest patient populations has led to heightened concerns regarding the potential harmful side effects of almost all commonly used anesthetic drug regimens. Although the majority of information regarding anesthetic risks in the developing brain derives from preclinical work in rodents, research involving the aged brain has identified a well-defined postoperative cognitive phenotype in humans. While preclinical and clinical data appear to support some association between anesthesia and surgery and the development of detrimental cognitive changes in both the developing and the aged brain, correlation between anesthesia and surgery and poor neurological outcomes does not imply causation. Given this information, no single anesthetic or group of anesthetics can be recommended over any other in terms of causing or preventing negative neurocognitive outcomes in either population. This review summarizes the growing body of preclinical and clinical literature dedicated to the detrimental effects of anesthesia on both the developing and the aging brain.

Date: 2016
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40264-016-0415-z Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:drugsa:v:39:y:2016:i:7:d:10.1007_s40264-016-0415-z

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/adis/journal/40264

DOI: 10.1007/s40264-016-0415-z

Access Statistics for this article

Drug Safety is currently edited by Nitin Joshi

More articles in Drug Safety from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().

 
Page updated 2025-03-20
Handle: RePEc:spr:drugsa:v:39:y:2016:i:7:d:10.1007_s40264-016-0415-z