FETAL ANAESTHESIA: IS THIS NECESSARY FOR FETOSCOPIC THERAPY?

Since Robinson and Gregory demonstrated the need to administer analgesia to preterm infants and the safety of such anaesthestic techniques in this specific patient population, pain in neonates and adequate analgesia have drawn more and more attention. Thanks to the outstanding work by Anand et al, it became increasingly clear that premature infants experience stress during invasive procedures and that as a consequence long-term neurodevelopmental status may be affected. Fetuses also demonstrate a stress response. Fetal analgesia can be administered efficiently, eliminating the fetal stress response. However, it remains unclear whether this results in improved neurodevelopment and improved long term outcome.