Objective To investigate the relationship between graded spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury and somatosensory evoked potentials(SEP),neurologic function score（NFS）and the histopathological changes of spinal cord. Methods Forty rabbits were randomized and equally divided into 4 groups: shamoperation group, ischemia for 30min, 45min and 60min groups. The spinal cord ischemiareperfusion injury model was created by occlusion of the abdominal aorta in rabbits. SEP was monitored before ischemia,5,10minutes after ischemia, 15, 30 minutes, 1,2, 24 and 48 hours after reperfusion. NFS was evaluated at 6,12,24 and 48 hours after reperfusion.The pathological changes of spinal cord were observed after reperfusion 48 hours. Results The pathological characters with mild,moderate and severe spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury could be simulated by declamping after 30， 45 and 60 minutes infrarenal aorta crossclamping. SEP amplitude returned to normal after reperfusion 15 minutes（P gt;0.05）and SEP latency returned to normal after reperfusion 30 minutes（P gt;0.05）during mild spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury.SEP amplitude returned to normal after reperfusion 30 minutes（P gt;0.05）and SEP latency returned to normal after reperfusion 60 minutes（P gt;0.05）during moderate spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury. SEP latency increased and SEP amplitude decreased during severe spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury,compared with other groups, there were significant differences in SEP latency and SEP amplitude by clamping the infrarenal aorta for 60min（P lt;0.01）. With graded spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury, compared with shamoperation group, spinal cord ischemiareperfusion groups had significant differences in NFS（P lt;0.01）. Conclusion SEP is much quicker in the recovery of amplitude than latency during spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion. SEP is a sensitive and accurate index for spinal cord function during ischemia/reperfusion injury. SEP monitoring spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury during operation provides experimental basis for clinical application.

Citation： FANG Hua,WANG Quanyun,LI Changxi,LIU Jin.. Changes of Somatosensory Evoked Potentials During Graded Spinal Cord Ischemia/reperfusion Injury in Rabbits. Chinese Journal of Clinical Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, 2007, 14(4): 280-284. doi: Copy