This systematic review and meta-regression analysis examined data from 98 studies involving former preterm and term infants. The researchers looked at how factors like anesthesia type, infant age, and birth weight influenced the risk of postanesthesia apnea. They analyzed 115 of 173 available articles to understand these patterns.
The study found that the median incidence of breathing problems after anesthesia was 7.6%, though this rate varied widely between 0 and 85% across different reports. Importantly, the odds of experiencing apnea decreased when later publication years were compared to earlier ones. Additionally, infants with higher postmenstrual age had lower odds of apnea compared to younger infants.
The analysis showed that neuraxial anesthesia resulted in significantly lower apnea odds compared to general anesthesia. The researchers also noted that recommended monitoring duration after anesthesia ranged from 6 to 24 hours, depending on the infant's postmenstrual age. No safety concerns or adverse events were reported in the source data. Readers should understand that these findings come from a large collection of studies, but the specific context of each case matters.