| Source: |
Thygesen, M, Entezari, S, Houlind, N K, Nielsen, T H, Olsen, N Ø, Nielsen, T D, Skov, M, Tankisi, A, Rasmussen, M, Einarsson, H B, Agger, P, Orlowski, D, Dyrskog, S E, Thorup, L, Pedersen, M & Rasmussen, M M 2023, 'A traumatic spinal cord injury critical care porcine model', Dansk Rygkirurgisk Selskabs årsmøde 2023, Kolding, Denmark, 02/06/2023 - 03/06/2023. |
| Description: |
Background Intraspinal pressure relieve, spinal cord perfusion and immunomodulation have been suggested as treatments for traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI). However, evaluation of these strategies in human subjects is limited with regards to using invasive and continuous modalities. Hence, there is a need for a long term sedated large animal model of TSCI, which this study aimed to establish in using pigs. Methods The animals were sedated for 72 hours being allocated either to TSCI or sham. Both groups were subjected to a 2.5 level laminectomy at TH7-TH9. The spinal cord injury was inflicted by a 75 g rod falling from 75 mm, with sustained compression for 5 min. Upon completion of the 72 hours, the spinal cord tissue was fixated and scanned using a diffusional tractography imaging sequence. Results 11 animals completed the trial whilst maintaining a stable physiology. A mean of 5243 (95%CI 2576 : 7910) tracks seeded at the cranial end of each sample in the sham group, whilst a mean of 2627 (95%CI 1448 : 3806) tracks seeded in the SCI group. In the sham group a mean of 4937 (95%CI 2262 : 7611) tracks reached the caudal end of the sample, whereas for the SCI group a mean of 1161 (95%CI -61 : 2384) reached the caudal end. There was a significant mean difference between groups of 3775 tracks (95%CI 1333 : 6217 p = 0.0073). Discussion/Conclusion This is to our knowledge, the first critical care large animal model of TSCI. We were successful in keeping the animals stable for 72 hours of anesthesia. The tractography analysis found tracks to traverse the injury site in all animals, implying that the injury was incomplete. This could be of great importance since incomplete injury have greater therapeutic potential. |