Best practices for our most delicate patients

For over a decade now, many in the pediatric anesthesia community have debated the possible clinical consequences of anesthetic and sedative drugs on the developing brain. Numerous studies in both animals and children have called into question whether the drugs we give our pediatric patients to keep them safe and comfortable may in fact have negative long-term learning and behavior consequences. Although the clinical implications of anesthetic induced neurotoxicity remain uncertain, and may even be potentially clinically irrelevant for the vast majority of our patients, the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) recent Safety Announcement encourages all practitioners to address this still as of yet hypothetical risk when using anesthetic and sedative drugs [1].

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