This has been in the news quite a bit this past week, but the science isn’t what people seem to think it is–at least, what the headlines are proclaiming it is.  A study has been done that says that children who have had 2 or more surgieries by age 3 often end up with learning disabilities. 

But it has not been shown to be a causal relationship between anesthesia and learning disabilities.  I mean, there’s no evidence that learning disabilities are caused by the use of anesthesia.  Kids who need multiple surgeries so early are already facing serious health problems–their learning disability could simply be one of those.  Or, whatever went wrong in their pre-natal development could also have affected their brains.  Or, the trauma of invasive surgery could have provoked a chemical imbalance that led to the learning disability.

Parents, please don’t be afraid to get your child the medical care he or she needs.  Nobody takes lightly the decision to subject a baby or toddler to an operation.  Do your own research, and don’t let headlines scare you.  All in all, we are very blessed to live in a time when we have access to these treatments at all.

No related posts.