Can Anesthesia cause Developmental Delays?

[Pamster]

http://www.newsweek.com/id/165041

:eek:

[Kristen (ColeysMom)]

LOVELY!

See it's stuff like this that just convinceds me more & more that Coley should just NOT have any man-made substances put into his body - EVER!

I SO noticed a difference in him after he had his tubes, and his endoscopy....

You should see the look on the faces of the Drs that I tell how uncomfortable I am authorizing any procedure that includes anesthesia...they think I'm crazy! The ones that don't make notes about him having a potential allergy or sensativity to it...although it didn't affect his breathing or whatever...he had a REALLY hard time coming out of it, and then was in a bad fog for a VERY long time after! Just in general confused, but also mystified by objects that before the treatment were some of his favorite things!

I swear to god, the more things that come out like this the more I feel like MY kid, every kid is a fricken lab rat to these money hungry dirt-bags!

For ONCE I'd like to feel some confidence that the medical community actually has my child's best interest in mind! :mad:

[Pamster]

I know it's awful isn't it? Simply awful. :(

[Mother's Heart]

The thing about this is: the group they studied was hernia patients and they didn't control for other issues, and didn't specify if it was umbilical/inguinal hernias (common) or hiatal (very uncommon in typical children). Usually a kid with a hiatal hernia is a kid with other anomalies as well. It will be interesting to see if the further studies bear this out, and also the investigations into whether or not the effects are long=term or not. children have highly plastic brains and can recoup losses amazingly well. It's also so rare for a child/baby to have elective surgery...i just wonder how much impact this knowledge will have on actual practice. maybe delaying ear tubes or opting for alternative treatments but htat's all I can think of. man, here we go, back to tons of antibiotics for ear infections again.

but then again, we know what it's like for the kids who don't recover from brain injury.

[Kristen (ColeysMom)]

Actually MH, the current recomendation for ear infections is to not treat and allow the body's natural immunity to take over...within reason of course. Recurrent and complications are what needs to be present for a Rx now. A good thing I think! I think this in reaction to 'super-bugs' not anything that may be related to the things we discuss here as a consequence to antibiotics and other meds...but I suppose that's ok...

[Mother's Heart]

yes. recurrent and complications to prescribe antibiotics....but that is also the criteria for tube placement.

[Kristen (ColeysMom)]

yeah, I know...:rolleyes:...Coley's reaction to antibiotics is what warranted his tubes...:confused:...in our case, it seems the antibiotics caused worse harm though...it's hard to assess though really...but the anticiotics seem to send him into some sort of metabolic tailspin...dehydration, low blood sugar crashes and the need for medical intervention to disrupt the cycle...that was SCARY!

They obviously have a long way to go when it comes to figuring out how to 'help' the body fight infections...I wonder if immune boosters might be a better approach...

Although that is just one instance in a BIG list of reasons for anesthesia...what if a newborn needs heart surgery, then what? Assuming of course the analysis is confirmed through a study. That's a pretty tough decision/delemma...

I can't tell you how many of Coley's preemie roommates underwent multiple surgeries during their NICU stays....he is SO lucky he didn't need any...I wonder if this could be a contributing factor to the high developmental & learning disbilities in preemies??????

[Lanity Twins Mom]

I typed in "Anesthesia and Developmental Delays" and found this thread. THANK YOU!!!

My son is a twin. He and his sister were both developing typically until 12 months of age. At that point he had an elective surgery for a hypospadias. He came home that same day and was COMPLETELY different. He's never been the same. We got his autism diagnosis last April just a few weeks before his 3rd birthday.

I delayed both their vaccines. I know with absolute certainty vaccines were not a contributing factor. His father and I have been convinced for a long time that the surgery contributed to his autism. Of course, I might as well have been saying the sky is purple as far as the medical community is concerned.

Today, his speech therapist came in with a similar article she found in one of her speech magazines. I did a Google search and found this thread with an even more credible source validating what I think I've always known. I especially love the part where they compare these kids to crack babies and imply they'll grow out of it. WHAT THE !@#*&&# ??? I guess if I'm a crack addict, I don't need to quit smoking it just because I'm pregnant??? ARRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek::eek::eek:

Thank you so much for this post and thread. I needed this one.

[Keggy]

Call me crazy but I don't like this study. What if the hernia has something to do with these developmental delays? How do we know that the pain caused by the hernia, or whatever caused the hernia to be also the casue of the delays. The article even talked about how it is risker to put kids into a lighter sleep than a heavy sedation because the pain and stress was harder on their bodies. So how do they know?
Ok.. on the other side of that it is understood that sedation decreases respirations, which would mean less oxygen going to the brain. .... but I still don't like this study.

[Kristen (ColeysMom)]

I hear ya Keg!

You know what I get from this...

The docs just don't know or understand the risks with sedating a child or baby.

That pi$$es me off!

It scares me for parents trying to figure out whether to do a surgery that by itself may have big complications (whether done or not, like heart issues or whatever)...adding this notion...I really feel for them!

And for smaller, say more routine procedures...oh it just infuriates me!

[luv4mykids4]

My son experienced the same thing after having a MRI at the age of 5. Disoriented, wet his pants, in and out of it, crying and walking was unbalanced, . He went in at 9:30am done at 10:15am, didn't leave recovery till 12:30pm at which he was still kind of out of it, I carried him to the car. He slept most of the day, waking for brief moments and even said, "Mommy, I think they gave me the wrong medicine." Finally came around about 6pm that evening. Still took about 3 days before he was himself.