Gastroschisis is a congenital abdominal wall defect by which the intestinal structures eviscerate from the abdomen, with a current prevalence of 4.9 per 10,000 pregnancies in the United States. Not only is it the most common abdominal wall defect, but the incidence of GS has increased by nearly 30% in the US (Jones et al., 2016) and 25 % in Europe (EUROCAT, 2021) between 2006 and 2012 for reasons that are still unknown. Two subtypes of the disease have been identified - simple and complex GS. Simple GS presents as an otherwise healthy bowel that may have an inflammatory peel over the bowel surface. By contrast, complex GS is characterized by serious bowel complications, such as bowel volvulus, atresia, stenosis, necrosis, and perforation.~Participants will be offered the minimally invasive in-utero repair technique as an alternative to the traditional standard postnatal GS surgical repair. During surgery, the mother's uterus is opened using the standard laparotomy approach that we currently use in our open fetal surgeries and fetoscopic spina bifida repair through an exteriorized uterus, and then fetal surgeons repair the fetus' defect. The uterus is closed, and the pregnancy continues. When babies are treated in this way, they may be less likely to be born with their intestines coming out of their belly and if this is the case, they may be less likely to have other problems that occur with gastroschisis because the intestines are not covered.~All participants will be closely followed with ultrasound and consultation after the surgery. Delivery will be scheduled at Texas Children's Hospital, and the infants will be followed for 12 months by our research team.
The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the safety and feasibility of fetal repair of complex gastroschisis (GS) via a fetoscopic surgical approach by assessing maternal, fetal, neonatal, and infant outcomes in a cohort of 10 patients. The hypothesis is that in utero repair of GS will reduce postnatal mortality and morbidity in complex GS infants with minimal maternal and fetal risk.