Motor Function Changes in the Rat Following Severe Spinal Cord Injury
H. Westergren, M. Farooque, Y. Olsson, and A. Holtz
Acta Neurochir, 2000
Thirty Sprague Dawley rats were randomized into three groups. On underwent a hypothermic procedure, including a 2 hour hypothermic period following the initial laminectomy. The second group a 50g compression was applied to spinal cords for five minutes and kept under normothermic conditions afterwards. In group three the animals underwent the same trauma procedure as group two and the same hypothermic procedures as group one. All animals in group one survived. The mortality rates in group 2 were 25% and in group 3, 50%, which mirrors the severity of the trauma.