New assessment techniques for evaluation of posttraumatic spinal cord function in the rat.

ABSTRACT To evaluate new pharmacologic agents with potentially beneficial effects on posttraumatic spinal cord function, we used a modified weight drop (WD) technique to induce spinal cord injuries. These contusive spinal cord injuries in the rat closely mimic the human clinicopathologic situation. Especially for drug screening purposes, the moderate and mild injuries are of interest, as both the beneficial and potentially harmful effects of experimental treatment can be detected. In this study, we describe two new functional tests that were particularly designed to detect small differences in spinal cord function after moderate and mild injuries. First, for examination of locomotion, a computer analysis of the thoracolumbar height (TLH) was designed. Second, for investigation of the conduction properties of the injured rat spinal cord, we measured rubrospinal motor evoked potentials (MEP). The efficacy of the new assessment techniques to monitor spinal cord function was compared to Tarlov scores and to m...