Abstract
Study design: It is well known that changes of the body temperature as well as trauma influence the blood flow in the brain and spinal cord. However, there is still a lack of knowledge concerning the levels of blood flow changes, especially during hypothermia.
Objectives: This investigation was carried out to examine the effects of systemic hypothermia and trauma on spinal cord blood flow (SCBF).
Methods: Twenty-four rats were randomized either to thoracic laminectomy only (Th VII–IX) or to 35 g spinal cord compression trauma. The animals were further randomized to either constant normothermia (38°C) or to a systemic cooling procedure, ie reduction of the esophageal temperature from 38 to 30°C. SCBF was recorded 5 mm caudal to the injury zone using Laser-Doppler flowmetry which allows a non-invasive continuous recording of local changes in the blood flow. The autoregulation ability was tested at the end of the experiments by inducing a 30–50 mmHg blood-pressure fall, using blood-withdrawal from the carotid artery.
Results: The mean SCBF decreased 2.8% and 3.5% per centigrade reduction of esophageal temperature in the animals sustained to hypothermia with and without trauma, respectively. This could be compared to a decrease of 0.2%/min when only trauma was applied. No significant differences were seen between the groups concerning auto regulatory ability.
Conclusions: Our results indicate that the core temperature has a high impact on the SCBF independent of previous trauma recorded by Laser-Doppler flowmetry. This influence exceeds the response mediated by moderate compression trauma alone.
Sponsorship: The study was supported by grants from the Laerdal foundation.
Spinal Cord (2001) 39, 74–84.
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Acknowledgements
We wish to thank the artist Mats Linder for the illustration, Rolf Karlsten and Kjell Bakken for technical advice concerning the Laser-Doppler technique and Johan Bring for statistical advice.
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Westergren, H., Farooque, M., Olsson, Y. et al. Spinal cord blood flow changes following systemic hypothermia and spinal cord compression injury: an experimental study in the rat using Laser-Doppler flowmetry. Spinal Cord 39, 74–84 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.sc.3101127
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.sc.3101127
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