Jevtovic-Todorovic V. Anesthetics and Cognitive Impairments in Developing Children: What Is Our Responsibility? JAMA Pediatr. 2017 Oct 2. [Epub ahead of print]

“As we continue to scrutinize the importance of anesthesia induced cognitive and behavioral impairments, we face a dilemma of how to proceed. Many approaches have been considered, such as ignoring it or making substantial changes in daily clinical practice (e.g., taking a conservative instead of surgical approach, postponing the surgical procedure to a later date, shortening and/or minimizing the repeated exposures, combining general anesthetics with safening agents, or developing safer anesthetic drugs). Whatever approach we take, this dilemma cannot be ignored and, as such, requires relentless pursuit of truth through rigorous scientific inquiry so that we can continue to responsibly serve our youngest patient population.”