Local cooling in spinal cord injury.

Eight patients with acute spinal cord injury at different levels were treated by local cooling. Early laminectomy was performed and the subdural space was irrigated with saline at 5degreesC for about two hours. In addition to this treatment, five patients, after closure of the operative wound, received local epidural cooling that was prolonged for a few days. All patients before treatment had a complete loss of function of the spinal cord below the injured segment. Four of these regained some sensory and motor functions and two were able to walk. Somatosensory cortical evoked responses were consistent with the results obtained, thus demonstrating their prognostic value. The clinical application of local spinal cord hypothermia in order to minimize the catastrophic effects of spinal cord trauma is discussed. The results obtained in these eight patients agree with the several experimental observations and seem to justify the application of this procedure to human beings.