ArticleDeutsches Arzteblatt international2021
General Anesthesia in the First 36 Months of Life.
Article in Deutsches Arzteblatt international, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- General anesthesia in children and long-term neurodevelopmental deficits: A systematic review.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2022Pooled it
- Evaluation and perspectives of the OrphanAnesthesia project - a survey among anesthesiologists in Germany.BMC anesthesiology · 2026Article
- Preoperative serum cortisone levels are associated with cognition in preschool-aged children with tetralogy of Fallot after corrective surgery: new evidence from human populations and mice.World journal of pediatrics : WJP · 2024Article
- Effects of on-Table Extubation after Pediatric Cardiac Surgery.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Neonatal Anesthesia and Oxidative Stress.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- The Effect of Abnormal Regional Homogeneity and Spontaneous Low-Frequency Brain Activity on Lower Cognitive Ability: A Cross-Sectional Study on Postoperative Children With Tetralogy of Fallot.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundExperimental data have shown that the developing brain is especially vulnerable to exogenous noxious substances. The potential effects of anesthetic drugs on brain growth and development are a matter of concern. Clinical studies of children who underwent general anesthesia in their earliest years can make a major contribution to our understanding of the effects of anesthetic drugs on infants and toddlers (i.e., children under age 5).
methodsChildren born at term during the years 2007-2011 who were exposed to general anesthesia before their third birthday were included in the study. Data on general anesthesia were retrospectively evaluated, and the overall intelligence quotient (IQ) was determined prospectively as the primary target parameter. Children who had not been exposed to general anesthesia were recruited as a control group. The non-inferiority threshold was set at a difference of 5 IQ points out of a consideration of clinical relevance.
results430 complete data sets were available from exposed children and 67 from members of the control group. The exposed group achieved a mean IQ score of 108.2, with a 95% confidence interval of [107; 109.4]; the corresponding values in the control group were 113 [110; 116.1]. Both groups achieved a mean score that was higher than the expected 100 points. After adjustment for age, socioeconomic status, and sex, the difference between the two groups was 2.9 points [0.2; 5.6], indicating a significantly better outcome in the control group than in the exposed group. The non-inferiority threshold of 5 IQ points was within the confidence interval; thus, non-inferiority was not demonstrated.
conclusionThe fact that both groups achieved a higher IQ score than the expected 100 points may be attributable, at least in part, to the restriction of the study to children born at term. The results indicate that general anesthesia in early childhood is not associated with markedly reduced intelligence in later years, although noninferiority could not be demonstrated.
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Registered trials
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