title: Effect of decompression on complete spinal cord injury in rats.
abstract: To examine whether spinal cord decompression improves functional recovery and decreases lesion volumes in paraplegic (not paraparetic) rats and, if so, at what postoperative time it is most efficacious. The spinal cords of 63 female rats were compressed at T9 with Yasargil clips. Rats were assigned randomly to five different treatment groups of 3 s, 1 hr, 6 hr, 3 weeks, and 10 weeks. Locomotor behavior scoring was based on the Basso, Beattie, Bresnahan (BBB) Locomotor Rating Scale (Ohio State University, Columbus, OH) motor scores. Comparing five groups, the mean BBB was statistically higher in the 3-s group (P < 0.05). Comparison of progressive changes in BBB in each group revealed statistically meaningful improvement in the 3-s group, too. Spared surface area of spinal cord was 81.5 +/- 4.9% in 3-s group and 10.8 +/- 1.4% in the delayed groups of decompression (P = 0.039). Rats undergoing immediate decompression showed significantly better functional recovery and smaller lesion volumes.
authors.affiliation: Sina Trauma and Surgery Research Center, Sina Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. v rahimi@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Vafa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rahimi-Movaghar
authors.forename: Atefeh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yazdi
authors.forename: Mehrbod
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karimi
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mohammadi
authors.forename: Masoumeh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Firouzi
authors.forename: Leila Oryadi
authors.initials: LO
authors.lastname: Zanjani
authors.forename: Mohammad Hosein
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Nabian
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019299:Decompression, Surgical / Q000379:methods*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome