Neurodevelopmental outcome at 5 years of age after general anaesthesia or awake-regional anaesthesia in infancy (GAS): an international, multicentre, randomised, controlled equivalence trial

Background In laboratory animals, exposure to most general anaesthetics leads to neurotoxicity manifested by neuronal cell death and abnormal behaviour and cognition. Some large human cohort studies have shown an association between general anaesthesia at a young age and subsequent neurodevelopmental deficits, but these studies are prone to bias. Others have found no evidence for an association. We aimed to establish whether general anaesthesia in early infancy affects neurodevelopmental outcomes. Methods In this international, assessor-masked, equivalence, randomised, controlled trial conducted at 28 hospitals in Australia, Italy, the USA, the UK, Canada, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, we recruited infants…

• P
  Pfizer
• CH
  Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin Research Institute
• CH
  Children's Hospital Foundation
• MC
  Murdoch Children's Research Institute
• NI
  National Institute for Health and Care Research
• AA
  Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists
• FN
  Fonds NutsOhra
• MD
  Ministero della Salute
• SP
  Stan Perron Charitable Foundation
• NI
  National Institutes of Health
• PC
  Pfizer Canada
• CI
  Canadian Institutes of Health Research
• MR
  Medical Research Council
• NH
  National Health and Medical Research Council