Interventional radiology: the future of surgery in microgravity

Explorer Class missions face situations requiring innovative answers, including medical/surgical dilemmas. Interventional radiology (IR) could play a very important role as sonographically guided procedures make possible many minimally invasive surgical solutions. A review of IR was performed, including performing many IR procedures. Surgical equipment is limited in microgravity. General anesthesia, surgical skill, large mass/volume equipment, and postsurgical/postanesthesia care are among the reasons that open compartment/laparoscopic procedures are undesirable. Sonographically guided percutaneous procedures treat these issues with minimal sedation. Catheters are interchangeable and extremely lightweight and placement could be performed with 0.5 lb (0.2268 kg) of material, nearly a 1000 fold decrease in mass from normal surgical devices. These carry a lower risk of complications comparable to surgery. These can further be researched using the KC-135 and remote "bases." Although further research is required, IR is ideally suited to handle many predicted medical problems that might arise during Explorer Class missions. The percutaneous treatment would allow symptoms to resolve during the mission, and be fully cured upon return to Earth.