Mild hypothermia protects against irreversible damage during prolonged spinal cord ischemia.

Mild hypothermia to 32 degrees C protected the spinal cords of 5 rabbits subjected to 90 min of surgically created spinal cord ischemia. Spinal cord ischemia was produced in 10 New Zealand White rabbits by transection of four out of the five segmental arteries arising from the abdominal aorta below the renal arteries plus 90-min occlusion of the remaining segmental artery 24 hr later. Of these 10 rabbits, 5 served as controls. Recovery, or failure to recover, as assessed by examining the rabbits for permanent loss of sensory and motor function in the hind limbs, was compared in the two groups. The duration of the ischemia was sufficient to lead to a total or near total loss of sensory and motor function in all control rabbits. These results may have implications for the care of patients subjected to spinal cord ischemia.