ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) -- The study looks at data from nearly 5 babies born in Rochester between the years 1976 and 1982.
Children who had at least two surgeries in their first two years of life are about twice as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD before they turned 19.
Roughly three to seven percent of school aged children suffer from ADHD.
Dr. Michelle Beyer, Rochester Public Schools Psychologist explains, "They struggle a lot more than other kids. They have difficulty sustaining tasks, attending to tasks, starting and finishing a task."
Mayo Clinic researchers saw a link in animal studies between exposure to anesthesia and brain development. That prompted a closer look at how thousands of Rochester children developed since birth.
Dr. David Warner, a Pediatric Anesthesiologist says, "I and my colleagues hoped and assumed we would not find this in children."
While the study indicated children with two or more surgeries were twice as likely as their peers to develop ADHD it did not prove a cause and effect.
Dr. Warner says, "Children who need surgery are different than who don't. It may be the conditions that require surgery that are in fact the things that are responsible for this association."
Dr. Warner himself has a young granddaughter who required surgery at just three weeks old.
He explains, "This is something that went through my mind. On the other she absolutely had to have this surgery. So there was no hesitation in my mind to recommend to my daughter that my granddaughter have the operation."
While children undergoing surgery often require it to survive, ADHD is a difficult condition.
Dr. Beyer says, "It's something throughout their lifetime. They're also kids that are much more at risk for other types of behaviors that can lead to trouble later on."
The data used was from the 70s and 80s and the anesthesia has changed.
Dr. Warner says, "The particular anesthetic that was used is no longer in clinical use, but its cousins are."
Researchers are using these findings as a springboard and are already planning more studies and studies including more up-to-date anesthesia.
