wilder and his research are cautious about their results also because the data do not make uncertain whether it was the anesthesia that contributed to the baby ' s learning deficits , or whether it was an underlying situation that may have required treatment and precipitated the same problems . of the more than 5 , 000 babies studied , 593 needed at least one surgery and just over 100 newborn had more than twice before age 3 . there may be little unusual about this population of children that might have made them vulnerable to learning problems and required they undergo surgery and anesthetics .
Anesthesia causes learning disabilities.