Anesthesiology
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Space travel has grown during the past 2 decades, and is expected to surge in the future with the establishment of an American Space Force, businesses specializing in commercial space travel, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration's planned sustained presence on the moon. Accompanying this rise, treating physicians are bracing for a concomitant increase in space-related medical problems, including back pain. ⋯ These include a loss of spinal curvature, spinal muscle atrophy, a higher rate of disc herniation, decreased proteoglycan and collagen content in intervertebral discs, and a reduction in bone density that may predispose people to vertebral endplate fractures. In this article, the authors discuss epidemiology, pathophysiology, prevention, treatment, and future research.