Evaluation of behavioral changes and school achievement in children receiving general anesthesia under 2 years of age with questionnaire method

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between anesthesia exposure under 2 years of age and the school achievement and behavioral problems in the later period, based on studies showing that neurotoxic effects may be present in children of general anesthesia. Method: In the study, case group consisted of 57 children who underwent general anesthesia and minor urogenital surgery (circumcision, inguinal hernia or phimosis) at 2 years of age and under at Adnan Menderes University Application and Research Hospital Pediatric Surgery Department. The control group consisted of 56 children of the same sex and age group who had never been anesthetized before and had been admitted to the Department of Child Health and Diseases. After ethical committee approval, the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI) and school success evaluation questions were evaluated to the children 's parents in order to determine the behavioral change and to measure the severity of the behavior. The telephone numbers registered in the hospital information system were searched for the case group and face - to - face interviews were applied to the control group. Findings: The case and control groups were similar in terms of age and gender distribution. It was determined that parental education levels in case group were higher than control group. It was determined that there was no difference between two groups in terms of general success, Turkish, social studies, mathematics, science lessons and frequency of behavior problems. In the group with anesthesia exposure, it was determined that the frequency of general success and behavior problems did not change depending on the age at operation time or duration of operation. Conclusion: In our study, it was determined that the general successes and the incidence of behavioral problems of children exposed to anesthesia during minor urogenital surgery under 2 years of age did not differ compared with children who had not previously undergone did not have anesthesia. The success level and behavior problems of children can be affected by many factors such as family structure, ethnic origin, socioeconomic status, environment, the school they are attending and additional diseases. For this reason, especially in our country, we think there is a need for prospective cohort-style clinical trials with a larger sample of subjects.