Effects of Acute Alcohol Intoxication on Spinal Cord Vascular Injury

ABSTRACT Previous experimental studies found that acute intoxication may alter the long-term outcome of standardized spinal cord injury resulting in increased spinal cord necrosis and impaired functional recovery. We examined the effects of acute intoxication (blood alcohol concentration of 100 mg/dl) on hemorrhage and axonal conduction three hours after moderate severity spinal cord contusion induced by a constrained stroke pneumatic impactor. The hemorrhagic spinal cord lesion resulting from standardized injury was significantly increased by acute intoxication. Both local hemorrhage at the injury site and rostro-caudal and total extent of hemorrhage were increased. Also, the ability of nerve axons to recover function during the first three hours post-contusion was impaired by intoxication. These findings confirm that increased post-contusion hemorrhage results when spinal cord contusion injury occurs in the presence of acute intoxication, and suggest that increased intramedullary hemorrhage may contribu...