CHALLENGES IN ANAESTHESIA DURING SPACE EXPLORATION MISSIONS

Aim

NASA and private spacefaring companies plan to send exploration missions to mars within the next two decades. The environment of space, duration of the mission, distance from earth, and limited available resources present significant challenges for the provision of health care. It has been estimated that at least one medical emergency is likely to occur during such a mission, which may necessitate surgical treatment, and therefore anaesthesia. The provision of safe anaesthesia faces challenges arising from physiological adaptations to space, difficulty achieving and maintaining personnel expertise, possible pharmacological changes in anaesthetic agents used, limited consumable shelf-life and provision of intravenous fluids and blood products. In this review article we discuss these challenges in the context of a hypothetical case.