[More than three hours, less than three years. Safety of anesthetic procedures in children under three years, subject to surgeries of more than three hours].

The Food and Drug Administration (USA) warning (December 2016) on the safety of general anesthesia and sedation in patients younger that 3 years and pregnant women has raised many questions about the attitude that should be taken by professionals involved in the treatment of these patients. In view of this situation, the following Medical Scientific Societies: SEDAR, SECP, SECIP and SENeo have constituted a working group to analyze and clarify the safety of these techniques. In the present article, we conclude that at present both general anesthesia and deep sedation should continue to be considered safe techniques because there is no sufficient opposing evidence in clinical studies with humans. Despite this, we should not ignore the problem which must be followed carefully mainly in patients under three years of age undergoing anesthetic procedures longer than three hours or prolonged sedation in Neonatal or Pediatric Intensive Care Units.