Abstract
Background: Acute spinal cord injury (SCI) is commonly treated by elevating the mean arterial pressure (MAP). Other potential interventions include cerebrospinal fluid drainage (CSFD). Objective: To determine the efficacy of aggressive MAP elevation combined with intrathecal pressure (ITP) reduction; our primary objective was to improve spinal cord blood flow (SCBF) after SCI. Methods: All 15 pigs underwent laminectomy. Study groups included control (n 3); SCI only (n 3); SCI combined with MAP elevation (SCI + MAP) (n 3); SCI combined with CSFD (SCI + CSFD) (n 3); and SCI combined with both MAP elevation and CSFD (SCI + MAP + CSFD) (n 3). SCBF was measured with laser Doppler flowmetry. Results: In the SCI group, SCBF decreased by 56% after SCI. MAP elevation after SCI resulted in a 34% decrease in SCBF, whereas CSFD resulted in a 59% decrease in SCBF. The combination of CSFD and MAP elevation resulted in a 24% increase in SCBF. The SCI + MAP group had an average ITP increase of 5.45 mm Hg after MAP elevation 1 hour after SCI and remained at that level throughout the experiment. Conclusion: Both MAP elevation alone and CSFD alone led to only short-term improvement of SCBF. The combination of MAP elevation and CSFD significantly and sustainably improved SCBF and spinal cord perfusion pressure. Although laser Doppler flowmetry can provide flow measurements to a tissue depth of only 1.5 mm, these results may represent pattern of blood flow changes in the entire spinal cord after injury.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 461-468 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Neurosurgery |
Volume | 76 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 19 2015 |
Keywords
- Cerebrospinal fluid drainage
- Intrathecal pressure
- Mean arterial pressure
- Paraplegia
- Spinal cord blood flow
- Spinal cord injury
- Spinal cord perfusion
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Surgery
- Clinical Neurology