[Effectiveness of local hypothermia in the complex treatment of patients with complicated injuries of the spine].

Having analysed her observations of 84 scheduled patients with complicated injuries of the spinal column the author comes to the conclusion that local cooling of the spinal cord during the postoperative period exerts positive influence: it contributes to a decrease in excitability of alpha motoneurons of the spinal cord which is manifest by reduced muscular tension, improves the local blood flow in the spinal cord, raises the vascular tension and provides the analgetic effect.