Alteration of posttraumatic ischemia in experimental spinal cord trauma by a central nervous system depressant.

Blood flow after severe experimental injury to the thoracic spinal cord was studied in cats, using a modification of the hydrogen clearance technique. Gamma hydroxybutyrate, a central nervous system depressant, was shown to markedly alter the ischemic response to injury if given during the early posttraumatic period. Other vasoactive drugs investigated had no effect on posttraumatic ischemia. Therapeutic intervention during the early posttraumatic period aimed at increasing blood flow while decreasing the metabolic requirements of the injured cord may prove of value in reversing or limiting some elements of long-tract dysfunction due to the secondary ischemic insult.