Research suggests that multiple exposures to anesthesia during infancy could have an impact on emotional behavior, leading to alterations such as an increase in anxious behaviors that persist into later life. An estimated 1 million children under the age of 4 undergo surgery requiring general anesthetic in the US each year. The study, published in Anesthesiology, was a collaboration between researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, NY, and the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta, GA.
"Events that impact the developing brain have the potential to affect a wide range of later-developing behaviors," states co-investigator Maria Alvarado, of the Yerkes National Primate Research Center. According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), approximately 1 million children under the age of 4 undergo surgery involving general anesthetic…
