A combination of experiments completed with monkeys and with children have suggested that multiple, long doses of anesthesia before the age of three are directly linked to higher incidences of learning disabilities. Experts are demanding studies regarding whether or not single doses have a similar effect, and are clamoring for a new anesthetic that is safe for pediatric use.
Dr. Emery Brown, Professor of Medical Engineering and Computational Neuroscience at MIT and anesthesiologist at Mass General, acknowledges that although anesthesia has been used in the US for more than 160 years, it remains largely misunderstood. Dr. Brown's research focuses on the neuroscience underlying anesthesia, and his recent studies suggest that brain imaging during anesthesia may in fact allow for more precise monitoring of anesthetic depth.
A recent study has demonstrated that use of anesthetics, typically propofol, in colonoscopy patients leads to a 50 percent increase in risk of aspiration pneumonia. It has aso been shown to carry other detrimental side effects such as confusion, irregular heartbeat, and seizures.
A study on Accidental Awareness Under Anesthesia (AAUA) revealed that in 1 out of every 19,000 surgeries in which the patient is under general anesthesia, the patient experiences some form of consciousness. 51 percent of these cases were recorded as 'distressing', and 41 percent caused long-term psychological damage.
As the process by which anesthesia works is still largely unknown, it is often difficult to explain its side effects. However, recent studies demonstrate that anesthesia may trigger processes in the brain that lead to neurodegeneration, which often manifests in the elderly as dementia.