Altered blood flow and secondary injury in experimental spinal cord trauma

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Abstract
A modification of the H2 clearance technique was used to study blood flow in the dorsolateral funiculus of traumatized thoracic spinal cord in cats. Ischemia occurred in all animals both at the level of trauma, and 1 cm below the site of trauma. There was a period of over 1 h after trauma during which blood flow was maintained at both sites. This investigation not only confirmed the presence of ischemia in the lateral funiculus of the injured spinal cord but suggested that a period of time existed in the posttraumatic period during which pharmacological intervention may alter the ischemic response and possibly prevent secondary injury resulting from the ischemia.