A Ruptured Intracranial Aneurysm in Antarctica

Injury and Illness Aboard an Antarctic Cruise Ship

“…The history of Antarctica is replete with amazing tales of medical heroics. Prior reports in the medical literature include the handling of an acute abdomen 4 and a subarachnoid hemorrhage 5 by medical teams with limited resources and no neurosurgical training during the long Antarctic winter. Though these cruise ships travel during the milder Antarctic summer (November through March) and although procedures for emergency evacuations are in place (the ships are connected to land via satellite phone and radio), there is still the strong possibility that any medical emergency will be handled by the lone medical officer aboard the ship (with the possible help of the Russian crew physician).…”

Surgical epidemiology of Antarctic stations from 1904 to 2022: A scoping review

“…The reviewed publications were published between 1958 [ 17 ] and 2020 [ 20 ]. A total of nine countries published data on surgical epidemiology: eight in Japan [ 18 , 21 , 22 , 26 , 29 , 31 , 35 , 43 ], seven in India [ 10 , 11 , 15 , 19 , 30 , 33 , 42 ], six in Australia [ 12 , 13 , 16 , 36 , 38 , 40 ], five in the United Kingdom [ 14 , 24 , 27 , 39 , 41 ], four in the United States [ 17 , 23 , 32 , 34 ], two in Russia [ 25 , 37 ], one in Ukraine [ 28 ], one in the Czech Republic [ 20 ], and one in France [ 6 ]. These publications related to 33 Antarctic and sub-Antarctic stations belonging to 12 different countries ( Figure 2 ).…”

Emergency medicine in Antarctica

“…In 1961, a case of a ruptured intracranial aneurysm at Mawson Station highlighted the difficulties faced, the ingenuity of expeditioners and the usefulness of primitive telemedicine 9 . Using only radiotelegrams, a neurosurgeon in Melbourne provided directions on how to carry out a life‐saving craniotomy.…”