[Prevention and Treatment of Ischemic Spinal Cord Injury]

In recent years, the widespread use of thoracic/thoracoabdominal stent grafting and a better understanding of spinal cord blood supply have led to quite a few change in measures to prevent spinal cord injury. It is essential to understand the characteristics of spinal cord blood flow, which is complicated by collateral pathways, and to strive to maintain spinal cord blood flow during surgery. It is also important to plan staged repair as much as possible in any treatment modality. Particular attention must be paid to the prevention of second attacks, especially after thoracic/thoracoabdominal endovascular aortic repair without segmental artery reconstruction. Systemic circulatory and respiratory management, improvement of anemia, and cerebrospinal fluid drainage with attention to drainage rates, may be effective as preventive and therapeutic measures for spinal cord injury.