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Fetal Pain in the First Trimester
Fetal pain perception has important implications for fetal surgery, as well as for abortion. Current neuroscientific evidence indicates the possibility of fetal pain perception during the first trimester (<14 weeks gestation). Evidence for this conclusion is based on the following findings: (1) t...
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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SAGE Publications
2021
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8935428/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35321491 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00243639211059245 |
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author | Thill, Bridget |
author_facet | Thill, Bridget |
author_sort | Thill, Bridget |
collection | PubMed |
description | Fetal pain perception has important implications for fetal surgery, as well as for abortion. Current neuroscientific evidence indicates the possibility of fetal pain perception during the first trimester (<14 weeks gestation). Evidence for this conclusion is based on the following findings: (1) the neural pathways for pain perception via the cortical subplate are present as early as 12 weeks gestation, and via the thalamus as early as 7–8 weeks gestation; (2) the cortex is not necessary for pain to be experienced; (3) consciousness is mediated by subcortical structures, such as the thalamus and brainstem, which begin to develop during the first trimester; (4) the neurochemicals in utero do not cause fetal unconsciousness; and (5) the use of fetal analgesia suppresses the hormonal, physiologic, and behavioral responses to pain, avoiding the potential for both short- and long-term sequelae. As the medical evidence has shifted in acknowledging fetal pain perception prior to viability, there has been a gradual change in the fetal pain debate, from disputing the existence of fetal pain to debating the significance of fetal pain. The presence of fetal pain creates tension in the practice of medicine with respect to beneficence and nonmaleficence. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8935428 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | SAGE Publications |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-89354282022-03-22 Fetal Pain in the First Trimester Thill, Bridget Linacre Q Original Research Fetal pain perception has important implications for fetal surgery, as well as for abortion. Current neuroscientific evidence indicates the possibility of fetal pain perception during the first trimester (<14 weeks gestation). Evidence for this conclusion is based on the following findings: (1) the neural pathways for pain perception via the cortical subplate are present as early as 12 weeks gestation, and via the thalamus as early as 7–8 weeks gestation; (2) the cortex is not necessary for pain to be experienced; (3) consciousness is mediated by subcortical structures, such as the thalamus and brainstem, which begin to develop during the first trimester; (4) the neurochemicals in utero do not cause fetal unconsciousness; and (5) the use of fetal analgesia suppresses the hormonal, physiologic, and behavioral responses to pain, avoiding the potential for both short- and long-term sequelae. As the medical evidence has shifted in acknowledging fetal pain perception prior to viability, there has been a gradual change in the fetal pain debate, from disputing the existence of fetal pain to debating the significance of fetal pain. The presence of fetal pain creates tension in the practice of medicine with respect to beneficence and nonmaleficence. SAGE Publications 2021-12-06 2022-02 /pmc/articles/PMC8935428/ /pubmed/35321491 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00243639211059245 Text en © Catholic Medical Association 2021 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). |
spellingShingle | Original Research Thill, Bridget Fetal Pain in the First Trimester |
title | Fetal Pain in the First Trimester |
title_full | Fetal Pain in the First Trimester |
title_fullStr | Fetal Pain in the First Trimester |
title_full_unstemmed | Fetal Pain in the First Trimester |
title_short | Fetal Pain in the First Trimester |
title_sort | fetal pain in the first trimester |
topic | Original Research |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8935428/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35321491 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00243639211059245 |
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