Submarine medicine as an analog for spaceflight: a review of acute medical care.

Adam P Prucka, Mark Shelhamer, Radames J B Cordero

Abstract readReview

In one paragraph

Review in NPJ microgravity, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

0citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Adam P PruckaDepartment of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0002-8446-6571

Mark ShelhamerDepartment of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5040-6573

Radames J B CorderoDepartment of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA. rcorder4@jhu.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3026-7094

Funding

Air Force Office of Scientific Research FA9550-23-1-0589

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Long-duration spaceflight presents similar medical challenges to submarine deployment, including limited surgical capabilities and the psychological strain from isolation. This review synthesizes submarine medical literature to highlight parallels and divergences with space medicine, focusing on acute conditions. By comparing incidence data on acute medical diagnoses and examining case studies of these conditions, we propose countermeasures such as expanded surgical training and increased mental engagement. These analogies provide a blueprint for autonomous medical care on missions to the Moon and Mars.

Identifiers

PMID41611707

DOI10.1038/s41526-026-00566-4

PMCPMC12960706

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.