The enormous progress that has been made in prenatal medicine in recent years has resulted in the emergence of many new diagnostic and therapeutic methods that make it possible to detect many foetal malformations at an ever earlier stage. A significant proportion of the tests used to date have been modified and significantly improved, with the result that modern prenatal diagnostics now makes it possible not only to detect an existing defect, but also to precisely identify its type. The correct diagnosis of a defect is of vital importance in deciding how to proceed. New possibilities for the early diagnosis of structural defects have contributed to the development of intrauterine fetal surgery. Pioneering attempts have been made to surgically treat some of them while still in foetal life. The first fetal surgery was performed by the American Michael Harisson in 1981, who is recognised as a forerunner of this field of medicine.

Intrauterine fetal surgery has until recently been regarded as a medical experiment. In recent years, not only in the world, but also in Poland, attempts at intrauterine correction of fetal defects have been increasingly bold. More and more frequently, surgeons are undertaking operations on patients who are still unborn, although these procedures are highly controversial both morally and medically.

One of the most common congenital malformations of the foetus is defects of the central nervous system. With intrauterine surgery, it is possible to reduce the risk of neurological impairment in the child caused by the presence of a defect. One such defect is meningo-spinal hernia. This is caused by spina bifida. In the case of this defect, fetal surgery carried out during pregnancy can significantly reduce the risk of intrauterine damage to the spinal cord and nerves due to a mechanical or chemical agent. With open hernias, irreversible changes to the nervous system can and most often do occur, causing disability or endangering the life of the child.

This method of correcting the defect reduces the risk of the child developing hydrocephalus, gastrointestinal disorders, impaired sphincter function or paralysis of the lower limbs as a consequence of the hernia. Closure of a hernia in foetal life gives children the chance of complete or partial mobility as well as bowel control. With appropriate rehabilitation started from the earliest moments of life, these children have a good chance of walking normally on their own.

In Poland, operations of this type have so far been carried out only three times. The first two were carried out by a suitably prepared medical team at the Obstetrics Clinic of the Medical Academy in Gdansk, while the third and fourth were performed at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Silesian Medical Academy in Bytom. Although the effects of these operations are still difficult to assess accurately, the results of such procedures obtained to date in the United States are satisfactory.