A highly reproducible mouse model of compression spinal cord injury

Experimental spinal cord injury (SCI) can maintain the continuity of the spinal cord, as in the contusion (e.g., weight-fall) or compression models, or not, when there is a partial or a complete transection. The majority of acute human SCI is not followed by complete transection, but there is a combination of contusion, compression, and possibly partial transection. The method described here is a compressive mouse model that presents a combination of contusion and compression components and has many facilities in its execution. This lesion was established by our group and represents a simple, reliable, and inexpensive clip compression model with functional and morphological reproducibility. In this chapter we describe, step by step, the protocol of this experimental SCI.