A brief period of moderate noxious stimulation induces hemorrhage and impairs locomotor recovery after spinal cord injury.

ABSTRACT: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is often accompanied by additional tissue damage (polytrauma) that provides a source of pain input. Our studies suggest that this pain input may be detrimental to long-term recovery. In a rodent model, we have shown that engaging pain (nociceptive) fibers caudal to a lower thoracic contusion SCI impairs recovery of locomotor function and increases tissue loss (secondary injury) and hemorrhage at the site of injury. In these studies, nociceptive fibers were activated using intermittent electrical stimulation. The stimulation parameters were derived from earlier studies demonstrating that 6 min of noxious stimulation, at an intensity (1.5 mA) that engages unmyelinated C (pain) fibers, induces a form of maladaptive plasticity within the lumbosacral spinal cord. We hyp

SUBMITTER: Strain MM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7326330 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature