Pilot Study Explores Efficacy of Hypothermia for Spinal Cord Injury

Benjamin R. Cohen, MD Blog Pilot Study Explores Efficacy of Hypothermia for Spinal Cord Injury

Pilot Study Explores Efficacy of Hypothermia for Spinal Cord Injury 

One of the latest approaches to treating traumatic brain injury, hypothermia has been gaining increasing attention for its potential use after spinal cord injuries.

Recent media reports featured the remarkable recoveries of a young gymnast and professional football player who sustained serious spinal cord injuries that left each of them with near complete motor and sensory failure. Hypothermia affects many aspects of the body's responses to injury by changing the rates of activity in numerous biochemical pathways and lowering metabolic activity. It can also slow the post-injury inflammation cascades and reduce the post-injury permeability of the blood brain barrier. Other treatment regimens — like methylprednisolone — work on a single mechanism, and might not provide all the benefits of hypothermia.

Full text of this article can be found on p. 2-3 of the Spring 2012 issue of Winthrop University Hospital's Progressive Neuroscience

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