Anesthesia and Neurotoxicity, First Edition

Excerpt

The first edition of Anesthesia and Neurotoxicity was published shortly after the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued (December 2016) a “drug safety communication” warning the public that “general anesthesia and sedation drugs used in children less than three years of age or in pregnant women in their third trimester who were undergoing anesthesia for more than three hours or repeated use of anesthetics may affect the development of children’s brains.”1 This 167-page, multi-authored book, with contributions from both clinicians and basic scientists, is a comprehensive literature review that addresses the widespread concern that anesthesia might be harmful to the central nervous system. It focuses on the alarms raised by the FDA and provides evidence-based answers to questions regarding the potential neurotoxic effects of general anesthesia. …