Intelligence and Neurodevelopmental Disorders After Prenatal Exposure to General Anaesthesia

Intelligence and Neurodevelopmental Disorders After Prenatal Exposure to General Anaesthesia for Maternal Abdominal Surgery: A Propensity Score Weighted Multicentre Clinical Bidirectional Cohort Study.

Every year in the European Union, thousands of babies are exposed to anaesthesia before they are born because their mothers need surgery during pregnancy. While these surgeries are necessary, there is a concern that the anaesthesia might affect the baby's brain development. However, there isn't enough research to know for sure how this exposure might impact the child's intelligence or behavior later in life.

The goal of this cohort study is to compare the intelligence and neurodevelopmental outcome of children prenatally exposed to general anaesthesia for maternal abdominal surgery with those of unexposed children and with those of children prenatally exposed to maternal inflammation.

Prenatal anaesthesia exposure:

Inclusion Criteria:

• Prenatal anaesthesia exposure: Children exposed in utero to maternal general anaesthesia to allow laparoscopy or laparotomy for appendicectomy, adnexal pathology, cholecystectomy or for diagnostic procedures to rule out intra-abdominal pathology
• No prenatal anaesthesia exposure: Children not exposed to general anaesthesia for non-obstetric or obstetric (e.g. cesarean section) surgery in utero
• Children exposed to inflammation: Children born to mothers diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who had a flare-up during pregnancy without being exposed to general anaesthesia for non-obstetric or obstetric (e.g. cesarean section) surgery in utero.
• Children born in 2000-2023
• (Parental) informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children whose mothers underwent obstetric surgery or foetal surgery/interventions during the same pregnancy.
• No Dutch-speaking children
• Diagnosis of severe disability of genetic origin (e.g., Fragil X, Down syndrome,…), history of head trauma, major congenital birth defects