Neuroinflammatory and Neurocognitive Effects of Spinal vs. Inhalational Anesthesia for Elective Surgery in Infants

Significant concern regarding the safety of general anesthesia in children has arisen due to myriad animal studies suggesting neurotoxicity of commonly used anesthetic agents. Inflammation of the central nervous system after anesthesia may have a significant role in the pathogenesis of anesthetic-induced neural injury. To evaluate this hypothesis, the investigators propose to randomize healthy infants undergoing elective surgery to one of two anesthetics: 1) spinal anesthesia only; or 2) general inhalational anesthesia with isoflurane, laryngeal mask airway (LMA) or endotracheal tube (ETT), and single-shot caudal block. Primary endpoint will be serum inflammatory biomarkers and transcriptome analysis and secondary endpoint will be neurocognitive outcome at 6 months and 1 year.