OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of the application of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in Wistar rats with spinal cord contusion produced using computerized equipment to create impact by a falling weight, NYU Impactor. METHODS: We evaluated 17 male rats with weights ranging from 265 to 426 g; impacts were performed with a weight of 10 g from a pre-determined height of 12.5 mm, at the tenth thoracic vertebra, after completion of prior laminectomy. The rats were randomly divided into a control group and a group treated with hyperbaric oxygen. The latter, was treated with oxygen therapy in a hyperbaric chamber for one hour daily for a period of 30 days. The assessment of locomotor recovery was conducted on the 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th postoperative days, measured by the functional scale and the site of injury submitted to anatomopathological examination. RESULTS: Improved locomotor recovery was demonstrated in the rats treated with hyperbaric oxygen in the initial stages of the evaluation, but at the end of the evaluation there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups. The anatomopathological examination showed structural changes of the spinal cord in both groups. CONCLUSION: Spinal cord injury in rats evolved differently in the hyperbaric oxygen therapy group compared with the control group, in the initial phase.
Hyperbaric oxygenation; Spinal cord injury; Rats, Wistar
