Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32711462›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental health and preventive medicine2020

Association between surgical procedures under general anesthesia in infancy and developmental outcomes at 1 year: the Japan Environment and Children's Study.

Yoshiko Kobayashi, Narumi Tokuda, Sho Adachi, Yasuhiro Takeshima, Munetaka Hirose, Masayuki Shima, Japan Environment and Children’s Study (JECS) Group

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Environmental health and preventive medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
16citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 20% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

16 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Dexmedetomidine Mitigates Sevoflurane-Induced Neurodevelopmental Effects in Paediatric Anaesthesia: A Meta-Analysis and Preclinical Study.Journal of neuroimmune pharmacology : the official journal of the Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology · 2026
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  7. Reply to the letter by Obara S.Journal of anesthesia · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Yoshiko KobayashiHyogo Regional Center for the Japan Environment and Children's Study, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Japan.
Narumi TokudaHyogo Regional Center for the Japan Environment and Children's Study, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Japan.
Sho AdachiHyogo Regional Center for the Japan Environment and Children's Study, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Japan.
Yasuhiro TakeshimaHyogo Regional Center for the Japan Environment and Children's Study, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Japan.
Munetaka HiroseHyogo Regional Center for the Japan Environment and Children's Study, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Japan.
Masayuki ShimaHyogo Regional Center for the Japan Environment and Children's Study, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Japan. shima-m@hyo-med.ac.jp.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8783-7879
Japan Environment and Children’s Study (JECS) Group
Hyogo Medical University · JP

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe neurotoxicity of general anesthesia to the developing human brains is controversial. We assessed the associations between surgery under general anesthesia in infancy and development at age 1 year using the Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS), a large-scale birth cohort study.

methodsIn the JECS, 103,062 pregnancies and 104,065 fetuses were enrolled between January 2011 and March 2014. Of the 100,144 registered live births, we excluded preterm or post-term infants, multiple births, and infants with chromosomal anomalies and/or anomalies of the head or brain. Data on surgical procedures under general anesthesia in infancy were collected from self-administered questionnaires by parents at the 1-year follow-up. Developmental delay at age 1 year was assessed using the Japanese translation of the Ages and Stages Questionnaires, Third Edition (J-ASQ-3), comprising five developmental domains.

resultsAmong the 64,141 infants included, 746 infants had surgery under general anesthesia once, 90 twice, and 71 three or more times. The percentage of developmental delay in the five domains of the J-ASQ-3 significantly increased with the number of surgical procedures. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, the risk of developmental delays in all five domains was significantly increased in infants who had surgery under general anesthesia three times or more (adjusted odds ratios: for communication domain 3.32; gross motor domain 4.69; fine motor domain 2.99; problem solving domain 2.47; personal-social domain 2.55).

conclusionsSurgery under general anesthesia in infancy was associated with an increased likelihood of developmental delay in all five domains of the J-ASQ-3, especially the gross motor domain at age 1 year. The neurodevelopment with the growth should be further evaluated among the children who had surgery under general anesthesia.

trial registrationUMIN Clinical Trials Registry (number: UMIN000030786 ).

Indexed as

Anesthesia, GeneralAnesthetics, GeneralChild DevelopmentCohort StudiesFemaleHumansInfantInfant, NewbornJapanMaleAnesthetics, GeneralAges and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ)DevelopmentGeneral anesthesiaInfantJapan Environment and Children’s Study (JECS)NeurotoxicitySurgery

Identifiers

PMID32711462
PMCPMC7382792
OpenAlexW3044177843

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.