Abstract

KIZER, Saúl  and  VANEGAS, Horacio. ¿Siente dolor el feto?. Rev Obstet Ginecol Venez [online]. 2016, vol.76, n.2, pp.126-132. ISSN 0048-7732.

Objective: To analyze a variety of published studies on fetal pain. For a long time now, clinical and basic researchers have dealt with the question of whether the fetus is able to feel pain. The relevance of this subject has augmented in view of the increasing use of invasive techniques for fetal diagnosis and treatment, and also because of social strife between advocates and adversaries of abortion. The fundamental question here is whether the fetal nociceptive system has reached sufficient development for generating the mental experience that we call pain. We start with the developmental stages of the human nociceptive system. Then we approach the ethics of the problem. We further discuss whether the behavioral, hormonal, hemodynamic and electroencephalographic manifestations of a fetus are evidence for a mind capable of feeling pain. Conclusions: It seems unlikely that a fetus feels pain before week 20 of gestation; the fetus might be able to start feeling pain at weeks 22-26. We finally conclude that, whatever the answer to the fundamental question posed above, upon invasive approaches to the fetus the use of analgesia or anesthesia is recommended.

Keywords : Fetal development; Fetal pain; Abortion; Mind; Nociception; Mother-fetus relationship; Fetal stress.

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