Evaluation of Neurotoxicity of Multiple Anesthesia in Children Using Visual Evoked Potentials

OBJECTIVES: Anesthetic applications may cause increased neuronal damage in infants and children. Commonly cognitive or learning disability tests were used to investigate the neurological progress in children. Visual Evoked Potential is a gross electrical signal generated by the occipital regions of the cerebral cortex in response to visual stimulation and an objective assessment of brain function. In this study, to acquire more objective results, Visual Evoked Potential responses of children who had multiple exposures to anesthesia during the treatment of corrosive esophagitis were compared to children who have never received anesthesia before. METHODS: In this prospective, single-blinded, randomized, controlled study, 25 children, who were admitted to our pediatric surgery clinic because of corrosive esophagitis and who received general anesthesia more than 15 times composed Group-P; 25 children, who admitted to our well-child-clinic and who had never received anesthesia before consisted Group-C. The flash and pattern VEP responses of both groups were measured at the electrophysiology laboratory without any anesthetic drug application. The VEP responses of children in Group-P were recorded at least three days after the last exposure to anesthesia. RESULTS: Latencies and amplitudes of the N2 and P2 components of the pattern and flash VEP responses were statistically significantly different between the two groups (p=0.000). CONCLUSION: This study shows that in children who had repeated anesthetic applications VEP parameters are significantly altered. We believe that VEP responses may be a reliable objective criterion for the evaluation of anesthesia neurotoxicity.