Early exposure to anaesthetics may make adolescents more susceptible to developing alcohol use disorder (AUD), according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.
Anaesthetics are commonly used drugs in the healthcare field and are often administered to children to induce unconsciousness and immobility during surgeries.
Researchers discovered that anaesthetic exposure during adolescence may be an environmental risk factor that leads to an increased susceptibility to developing AUD later in life.
Although not all adolescents who drink alcohol develop AUDs, lead researcher David Werner, associate professor of psychology said it’s important to identify risk factors that contribute to an increased susceptibility to alcohol abuse.
“This is highly concerning,” Werner said. “Given that although the age of initiation and subsequent binging during adolescence are linked to alcoholism later in life, apart from stress, it was not clear what other environmental factors may play a role. This study now highlights a previously overlooked contributor.”
“Apart from infancy to early childhood, adolescence can be considered the most critical developmental stage following birth,” Werner said.
“Given that adolescence is a time-period that most often coincides with initial exposure to drugs of abuse, primarily alcohol, we initially performed a retrospective analysis of alcohol responding to our previous data with regard to adolescents that had experienced a surgical event. Noting a potential difference, we then wanted to empirically test whether or not the relationship between adolescent anaesthetic exposure and behaviours linked to alcohol use disorder susceptibility.”
Although the use of anaesthetics is vital for certain surgeries and can’t be avoided, Werner said it’s important to know the drug’s potential effects.
“Above all, anaesthetics are necessary — which obviously is why they are rightfully included in the essential medicines by the World Health Organisation,” Werner said. “In the event that the health condition of children and adolescents necessitates an operative procedure, then these should absolutely be used.
“That being said, we hope that this work can be used to inform people, especially younger individuals considering elective procedures that could be delayed into adulthood such as plastic surgery or weight loss procedures, as well as potentially leading to additional screening diagnostics to help identify individuals who may have greater drug use disorder susceptibility.”
