FDA Advisory Committee Receives Updates Regarding Neurodegeneration and Pediatric Anesthesia

The FDA Anesthetic and Life Support Drugs Advisory Committee met on March 10, 2011, to: (1) receive updates regarding neurodegenerative findings in juvenile animals exposed to anesthetic drugs, as well as results from human epidemiological studies using anesthesia in children; (2) discuss the relevance of these findings to pediatric patients and provide guidance for future preclinical and clinical studies; and (3) discuss the potential implications of these data upon the practice of pediatric anesthesia as well as the communication of the risk of sedative/anesthetic agents to prescribers and parents. 

ASA partnered with the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (SPA) and the Section on Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on a collaborative statement that will be introduced by Dr. Connie Hauck, chair of the AAP section on behalf of all three groups. 

ASA is offering a spokesperson expert to the media to provide independent perspective on the issue and will keep you posted on subsequent media coverage. The issue is of interest to the general public and media.

Please visit here for a summary of the meeting.

Please download a letter to parents from ASA about the existing data and resources for parents to tap should a child need surgery and anesthesia.  Please feel free to use the letter in your practice.