Kurzbeschreibung
(Englisch)
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Lunar missions may present the risk of musculoskeletal trauma, particularly femoral neck fractures, due to reduced bone density from spaceflight (-2% femoral neck bone mass loss per month on the ISS), altered sensorimotor control, and challenging lunar terrain. Effective, opioid-sparing pain management strategies like ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia (UGRA) may be an effective modality potentially performed by non-expert astronauts with limited medical training.
Objective:
Our project, Lunar Block, investigates the feasibility of UGRA—specifically the pericapsular nerve group (PENG) block—under lunar gravity conditions. The primary aims are to (1) compare expert vs. novice performance, (2) assess ergonomic and cognitive challenges in lunar gravity compared to normogravity, and (3) analyze anesthetic fluid dynamics during injection.
Methods:
Controlled, non-randomized feasibility study during the ESA’s 88th parabolic flight campaign, trained experts (anesthesiologists) and novices (non-anesthesiologists) will perform UGRA on high-fidelity simulators under lunar gravity (0.16g) and normogravity (1g) conditions. Performance will be evaluated using ultrasound imaging, timing, injection dynamics, and subjective ergonomic/cognitive scoring.
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