Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 14, 2026

Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound Imaging for Assessment of Spinal Cord Blood Flow in Experimental Spinal Cord Injury
Published on: May 7, 2015
Oxygen in the treatment of spinal cord decompression sickness
Abstract:
Twenty-five anesthetized dogs were used to find the optimum Po2 for the delayed treatment of spinal cord decompression sickness (DCS). They were instrumented for the measurement of physiological variables and somatosensory spinal evoked potentials (SEP) given an air dive of 15 min at 10 bar (300 ft) and decompressed in under 6 min. At the surface SEP were observed for signs of DCS. Fifteen minutes after cord DCS was observed in the SEP, the dogs were compressed to 5.0 bar breathing one of 5 gas mixtures giving a Po2 of 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, or 3.0 bar. At the start of therapy all groups were in a similar physiological state with a similar loss of SEP. Between 40 and 120 min, recovery was significantly different (P less than 0.05) between the groups, most SEP recovery having occurred within 15 min. The treatments ended with 22, 32, 70, 66, and 42% recovery, respectively. It would appear that the optimum Po2 is around 2.0 bar.
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