[Animal model of acute spinal cord injury in rats].

OBJECTIVE

To investigate a animal model of spinal cord injury in different degrees of impact.

METHODS

A new weight-drop device was designed with the character of controlled degree of impact and time. After thirty-five rats underwent different degrees of impact, their motor function and pathological changes were observed.

RESULTS

In control group, the rats could walk after reviving, and the micro-structure of spinal cord was normal. With 0.5 mm depth of impact, the rats also could walk, and the micro-structure of spinal cord did not change obviously. With 0.8 mm depth of impact, the rats could walk after several days of injury and only slight damage could be found in spinal cord. When the impact depth increased to 1.0 or 1.5 mm, the rats were paralyzed completely and could not walk after four weeks of injury. Severe injury was observed in spinal cord.

CONCLUSION

This animal model of spinal cord injury is based on different degrees of impact. It has stable and repetitive characters for the research on spinal cord injury.