Acta neurochirurgica
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Acta neurochirurgica · Jan 2000
Motor function changes in the rat following severe spinal cord injury. Does treatment with moderate systemic hypothermia improve functional outcome?
Systemic hypothermia exerts neuroprotective effects following trauma and ischemia caused by vascular occlusion in the brain. In the spinal cord similar effects have been demonstrated following ischemia after aortic occlusion. We have previously presented protective effects on several morphological parameters in the early period after the injury, using an established spinal cord compression injury model and systemic hypothermia. ⋯ However, the mortality rates in group 2 were 25% and in group 3, 50%, respectively, which mirrors the severity of the trauma. The application of systemic hypothermia and the lack of experimental therapeutic success highlight the difficulties of transferring experimental beneficial neuroprotective effects to a clinically useful treatment method. In this experimental set-up the effects of the severe primary injury may overshadow the effects of the secondary injury mechanisms, which limits the therapeutic possibilities of systemic hypothermic treatment.