[Observations on the effect of omental transplantation to the traumatized spinal cord]

Experiments with 2 groups of different animals were carried out to observe the effect of wrapping the traumatized spinal cord with transplanted omentum. In the first group, the spinal cords of 20 rabbits were uniformly impacted with a force of 11.2g x 10cm = 112gcf, and the cord specimens prepared in different times after injury were examined under light and electron microscopes. In the second group, the spinal cords of 14 cats were equally struck with a force of 25g x 20cm = 500 gcf, and the animals were checked for motor function and somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) of their hind limbs. The results found in the rabbits in the first group showed that the transplanted omentum was adherent to the cords within 24 hours, and there were vascular communications between them after 72 hours, as shown by the presence of dye in the cord vessels, which had been injected into the omental vessels. The histologic destructions appeared in these cords were obviously less severe than those in the control ones. Motor functions and SEP, demonstrated in the animals in the second group, were favorable in the cords of cats with omental transplantation (P less than 0.05). According to the findings in these experiments, we tend to believe that omental transplantation to the traumatized cord is of some benefit.