[Use of local hypothermia in complicated spinal injuries (clinical and experimental studies)]

Experimental data on 116 adult mongrel dogs and clinical findings of 121 patients with complicated spinal injury who had been operated on at Moscow Clinical Hospital No. 67 which is a basis of the Clinic of Traumatology, Orthopedics and Military Surgery, I.M. Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy, underlay the authors' research material. Experimental studies of the impact of local cooling of the intact spinal marrow indicated that there were the least changes in the temperature range of +9 to +11 degrees C with a session lasting 2-3 hours. Experimental histological studies of nerve tissue with hemisection demonstrated that two-hour local hypothermal sessions at 2- or 3-hour intervals proved to be optimal within the first 2 postoperative days. Clinically, the intraoperative regional spinal cooling at the last stage showed a 1.5-2-fold reduction in blood loss and exerted a profound hemostatic effect. Its postoperative local cooling produced analgetic and spasmolytic effects and improved cerebral blood flow. The application of local spinal hypothermia by the procedure developed by the authors is within reach at any medical institution.