If your child had long surgery under the age of 3, please could you reassure me?

[Anaesthesiaquestion]

Our DD will need 8ish hour surgery between 2-3 years old. The great news is that our surgeon is really confident about the plan and we hope it will make a big difference for her.

Our anaesthetists have discussed the FDA warning with us (to avoid anaesthesia exposures more than 3 hours under 3 years where at all possible) but like most surgery planned on children this young it is absolutely necessary, though they'll wait as long as they can.

I know that any effect on brain development would be very small if at all, but of course it's on my mind.

If your DC went through this please could you reassure me that they were still themselves after and there were no acute effects? I hope this isn't too insensitive, as I know none of us want our kids to go through this and we often have no choice.

Before anyone says I'm worrying about nothing there's a lot of research on this - the FDA website is helpful - although as yet no definitive evidence of harm in humans. The PANDA study this year was reassuring but only included 1 hour operations.

Ds was under for three hours Before he was two. It was horrific going there and seeing them put the mask on him and knocking him out. He recovered a lot quicker than I did. He is exactly the same boy he was before. I still have extreme anxiety over it though so I understand.

Dd had surgery aged 18m which lasted around 8hours
Shes a normal happy funny beautiful girl

Try and keep busy! We didnt sit and wait in the hall. We were so confident that dd was going to be ok that we had booked a holiday abroad for 8 weeks post op and i went and bought her loads of nice holiday clothes
It was tough but i tried to stay cheerful!!

I'm sorry you had to go through that Blodwyn Bludd but glad your DS is ok. It's comforting to know he's the same though rationally I knew that would be the case 😊

Surgery itself is obviously terrifying but I know that anaesthesia itself is very safe. It's more the neurotoxicity that I struggle with for surgery as long as our DD's. We're told if there is an effect it would be very small (but probably measurable)

It's an awful position to be in.

Also i queried the risks of general anesthetics and was promptly told the risks of her not having the surgery outweighed the risks of the general...

Shes now been "under" 5 or 6 times i loose count but only once was over an hour or 2

just seen your post MM29 - thank you, that's made me feel a lot better and what a great idea about the holiday

DD had surgery before she was 6 months old, she was under for around 3 hours although it felt like longer at the time. Definitely no lasting effects - she's 15 now and top of her class in a very competitive school so no lasting effects.

Did had five hours of surgery at four months old.

She coped much better than we did

DS had a ten and a half hour operation at 4 days old. He then had further operations at 9 days, 5 weeks and 6 weeks. He is a lovely, kind, and incredibly patient boy. We obviously did not get the chance to really get to know him before he had surgery but I can not imagine being any prouder of him than I am.

Thank you for these replies, it sounds like you have very brave, wonderful children

One quick bump in hunt of a little bit of extra reassurance before I try to put it aside and be constructive

My DS did, I can't even remember how we spent the time but I remember the build up to it being worse than the op itself.
I remember telling myself that I trusted a hairdresser to cut his hair because they knew better than me about haircuts and therefore I'd trust a surgeon to keep him safe completely crazy maybe but it helped.

DD had open heart at 18 months old, she was under for 12 hours and took another couple of hours to come off bypass.
She done amazingly well but was very groggy for 24 to 48 hours, I think they said she took longer to come around due to having been under for so long (they were expected the Op to take more like 8 hours initially).
The surgeons at Birmingham Children's are amazing and I hope you find the same where you are.
I wish you all the best and hope everything goes well.
I recommend leaving the hospital for the Op as waiting around there makes the nerves worse also they'll call you when they're finished

DD had surgery at 20 months after an accident. It was long but I can't remember the exact time. Less than 8 hours though.

There was no time at all to discuss potential brain damage. Nothing was discussed at all about any risks.

Thankfully I'd just so happened to read something a few days before which meant when she fought the mask I was ready and held her tight.

Thank you, and sorry again your children (and you!) have had to go through this. How are your kids doing now? A totally separate thing but I worry that perhaps she'll remember it. It sounds like the recovery period should hopefully be relatively straightforwards though

Oops - that was me!

DS had heart surgery when he was 2 weeks old, the operation lasted more than 8 hours due to a complication while he was under (estimation was 6) it was about 12 hours later when we finally got to see him. The worst day I’ve ever experienced.

He’s 9 now and a regular happy little boy, hits all his targets in school and is very sporty. The scar on his chests is the only indication of what he went through as a baby.

I second leaving the hospital, we went for a walk and out for some food and bought him a little teddy for when he woke up. I won’t tell you not to panic if the op takes longer than originally planned because I was a mess but prepare yourself for it being a possibility and don’t automatically think the worst.

Hope it all goes well

Thank you @RitaMills

I can't imagine what it must have been like for you. I'm so glad to hear he's doing so well.

Thank you for the advice too. We were ok when she was under for an hour but I think this will be very hard.

DD had an operation on her heart valves at 10 days old. Not quite open heart surgery but near enough. 4 hour operation on such a tiny baby was heart breaking.

Fast forward a bit she is now 31 and has had no further problems although she has been warned not to push herself physically so was never an Olympic athlete.

She had perfectly normal brain development and has had good exam results all through school and now has a good job. Please try not to worry.

Also agree with planning not to be in the hospital for the whole time. We went to Liverpool cathedral to say prayers for her and light a candle.
I wouldn't go too far away though.