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Inflight Medical Events in the Shuttle ProgramSince the first launch of the Space Shuttle in 1981, the astronauts and their flight surgeons have dealt with a variety of inflight medical issues. A review will be provided of these issues as well as medications used in the treatment of these medical problems. Detailed medical debriefs are conducted by the flight ,surgeon with the individual crewmembers three days after landing. These debriefs were review for Shuttle flights from 1988 through 1999 to determine the frequency of inflight medical events. Medical events were grouped by ICD category and the frequency of medical events within those categories were reviewed. The ICD category of Symptoms, Signs and Ill-defined Conditions had the most medical events. Facial fullness and headache were the most common complaints within this category. The ICD category of Respiratory System had the next most common medical events with sinus congestion being the most common complaint. This was followed by Digestive System complaints and Nervous System/Sense Organ complaints. A variety of inflight medical events have occurred throughout the Shuttle program. Fortunately, the majority of these problems have been minor and have been well within the capability of the medical equipment flown and the skills of the Crew Medical Officers. Medical ,problems/procedures that are routine on the ground often present unique problems in the space flight environment. It is important that the flight surgeon understand the common medical problems encountered.
Document ID
20000085962
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Baisden, Denise L.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX United States)
Effenhauser, R. K.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX United States)
Wear, Mary L.
(Wyle Labs., Inc. Houston, TX United States)
Date Acquired
August 19, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1999
Subject Category
Aerospace Medicine
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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