OBJECTIVE: the aim of this study was to investigate the consequences of contusion injury of spinal cord associated with narrowing of vertebral canal on motor behavior of rats, as assessing the effect of decompression time on the neurologic recovery of the animals. METHODS: male Wistar rats (n=6 per group) were divided into three experimental groups: submitted to laminectomy (T9-T10, Control Group), contusion due to weight drop (10 g from a height of 15 cm), 35% narrowing of the vertebral canal obtained with 0.78 mm thick polycarbonate rods and contusion injury associated with narrowing of the vertebral canal. In this last group, decompression was not performed or it was made after 24 or 72 hours of the surgery, as the animals were divided into subgroups. Rats were sacrificed seven days after surgical procedures. The motor behavior of the animals was assessed in open arena, inclined plane and by means of Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) locomotor rating scale, before and after 24, 48 hours and 7 days of surgical procedures. RESULTS: contusion injury, narrowing of the spinal canal and mixed injury impaired the motor behavior of the animals. Surgical decompression (24 and 72 hours) did not improve motor recovery as assessed in open arena, BBB scale and inclined plane test. On the other hand, animals injured with weight drop showed better scores on BBB scale and higher angles in the inclined plane when compared to the ones that were injured with narrowing of the vertebral canal and mixed lesion. CONCLUSIONS: spinal cord injury by weight drop and narrowing of the vertebral canal induced alterations on the motor behavior, which did not significantly improve with decompression.
Spinal cord compression; Spinal cord injuries; Spinal cord; Spinal canal; Rats, Wistar
