Altered blood flow and secondary injury in experimental spinal cord trauma.

A modification of the hydrogen clearance technique was used to study blood flow in the dorsolateral funiculus of traumatized thoracic spinal cord in cats. The result of this study show that ischemia occurred in all animals both at the level of trauma, and 1 cm below the site of trauma. There was, however, a period of over 1 hour after trauma during which blood flow was maintained at both sites. This investigation not only confirms the presence of ischemia in the lateral funiculus of the injured spinal cord but suggests that a period of time exists in the posttraumatic period during which pharmacological intervention may alter the ischemic response and possibly prevent secondary injury resulting from the ischemia.