PLEASE do not state fear-mongering numbers without source, especially about medicine!
Anesthesia is safer than traveling by plane, nowadays.
According to a 10 sec googling, the mortality is now sub 10/million/year, and that's including high-risk populations.
source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2697561/
But even those numbers show that the death rate for kids aged 0-4 is significantly higher[1] than for older kids and young adults. I know that doctors on the whole really try to avoid having to put kids under for just this reason.
The common guideline is 6 mo and 2 yo. Those ages are commonly viewed as cutoffs for risk levels.
In our hospital for example, the presence of an attending will be required for induction/waking up of anesthesia under 2 years old. Under 6 months, the risk of respiratory complication is far greater, which is why surgery is withheld until that age, except in emergencies.
PLEASE understand the meaning of "if I recall correctly". I was wrong.
Not everybody is attempting to write a post in an online forum about in form or article for Nature or Science, backchecking every statement in every sentence. Jeez
I do understand. It's not a problem for me. But look at all the terrorized people commenting on this story. They already think anesthesia means death to the kids, or something. You are not helping them.
