Surviving Antarctica: The Fascinating Reason Residents Of Villas Las Estrellas Remove Their Appendix
When you hear about Leonid Rogozov, you’ll see why
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
The small settlement of Villas Las Estrellas is one of the few Antarctic settlements where people live for more than a couple of months. However, to live there, you and your family will need their appendixes removed first. It seems like a slightly random stipulation, but it actually makes a lot of sense. Other settlements in the area have similar rules and a large part of why is due to the amazing and harrowing story of Leonid Rogozov. It is also likely to be a more common rule in the future.
Where is Villas Las Estrellas?
We’re talking remote here. Villas Las Estrellas is a small settlement on King George Island in the Antarctic (aka the South Pole). There are only around 100 or so people stationed there, and quite a few of them are scientists on rotation. However, it’s also a base for the Chilean military, who might be posted there for longer. There is a school, bank, souvenir shop and even a small Catholic church. It sounds charming, if a little chilly, but there is a major catch. You must have your appendix removed first, and that includes your children.
There is a fairly obvious and logical reason for this. Although the settlement does have a small medical facility, there are usually only one or two doctors, and they are not necessarily going to be surgeons. The nearest hospital is 625 miles away (over 1000km) and not particularly easy to reach. If you get appendicitis there, it could well be fatal.
It is not just Villas Las Estrellas that has these appendix-related rules. However, most Antarctic bases don’t insist on everyone having their appendix out, just a few. The Australians have a base on the continent and according to their official website:
“[D]octors who are wintering at Australian Antarctic stations are required to have their appendix removed. This is because there is usually only one doctor on station during winter, and evacuation back to medical care in Australia is impossible for at least part of the year. The requirement dates from the 1950s, when an Australian Antarctic doctor developed appendicitis on Heard Island and required a very challenging evacuation back to Australia.”
So, was it because of an Australian’s evacuation troubles that caused the appendix rule at Villas Las Estrellas? Possibly. It would certainly be cause for alarm. But way more likely, it was the harrowing tale of Leonid Rogozov that persuaded most people to have the organ removed voluntarily. It is an amazing story.
Who was Leonid Rogozov, and what happened?
Leonid Rogozov was a Russian surgeon who, in 1961, participated in the sixth Soviet Antarctic expedition. You can probably already guess where this is going.
Rogozov and his team were there to set up a new base called Novolazarevskaya Station. By February, the job was done, and they all settled in for the coming winter. Unfortunately, as they approached the end of April, Rogozov started to feel weak and nauseous, and a sharp pain developed on the lower right side of his abdomen.
Being a talented surgeon, Rogozov had no problem diagnosing the issue—acute appendicitis, a condition that was pretty straightforward and required a routine operation. He had performed this surgery many times himself. The only problem was that this hadn’t really been planned for, and he was the only surgeon on the team. It had taken them 36 days to get there, the ship wasn’t due back for a year, and blizzards meant no planes. There was no help coming.
Rogozov knew that if the appendix burst, he would likely die. By the end of April, his symptoms had worsened, and he knew he had no choice. He was going to have to operate on himself.
There were numerous problems. He was obviously not able to use a general anaesthetic. A local anaesthetic could be administered, but once he had cut through the abdominal wall, it was going to hurt a lot, and he didn’t dare use any kind of pain relief. He was going to need a clear head.
He enlisted two men as assistants to hand him instruments and hold lamps and mirrors so he could see, and he set to work. The station director was also there, just in case one of the assistants passed out. He would be cutting his own stomach open and removing some of his own intestines. It wasn’t going to be pretty and no one knew if it was even possible. As he wrote later:
“I was scared too. But when I picked up the needle with the novocaine and gave myself the first injection, somehow I automatically switched into operating mode, and from that point on I didn’t notice anything else.”
In the end, he found the mirror’s inverted images were too confusing, and so he operated by touch. There was a lot of blood, and whenever he felt close to passing out he was forced to take a break. One of his assistants was on standby with a shot of adrenaline in case he began to lose consciousness, but fortunately, it wasn’t needed.
It took two hours but finally, he succeeded. Rogozov noted after removal that the tip of the appendix had turned black and would likely have burst within a day. Incredibly, he then supervised his assistants as they cleaned the instruments and the room. It was only after they had finished that he took antibiotics and sleeping tablets and had a well-deserved rest.
Photo by Vladislav Rogozov
Two weeks laker, like the professional he was, Leonid Rogozov was back at work.
The consequences are still with us
From that point on, the possibility of appendicitis has understandably become an issue with Arctic explorers. If you are planning on staying in settlements such as Villas Las Estrellas, it might be necessary to have it removed. Other settlements either opt for two doctors or a doctor with an appendix out.
Further implications have rippled down. Many stations require prior dental visits to check that wisdom teeth have either been removed or are not going to cause a problem for a few months. Similar concerns have been raised with long submarine missions.
Settlements such as Villas Las Estrellas are like a test for future exploration. As space travel becomes more commonplace, issues such as that faced by Rogozov will need to be assessed.
The current NASA policy already recommends that astronauts have wisdom teeth and appendixes out. Now that a return to the moon and even trips to Mars are being discussed, it is likely to become more than a recommendation. It is under serious consideration already.
Stories such as Rogozov’s self-surgery are a pretty powerful and memorable argument. Villas Las Estrellas might well be setting a trend for future explorers.