Abstract:

Early decompression is the major therapeutic strategies of the acute spinal cord injury,Governor Vessel electro-acupuncture can improve symptoms of spinal cord injury by inhibiting cell apoptosis and improving the microenvironment of the injured spinal cord. This study will investigate the Governor Vessel electro-acupuncture’s effect on early and late decompression’s rats with acute upper cervical spinal cord injury.We created the models of acute spinal cord injury in rats with 12-hours and 48-hours compression and gave the rats Governor Vessel electro-acupuncture’s therapy for 14 days, the results showed that, compared with the 12-hours compressed rats, the Governor Vessel electro-acupuncture’s therapeutic on the 48-hours compressed rats had a better performance in motor functional recovery, inhibiting cell apoptosis and improving the microenvironment of the injured spinal cord. in conclusion, for the acute spinal cord injury, the Governor Vessel electro-acupuncture has more effective in rats compressed for 48-hours than that for 12-hours.

Key words: acute spinal cord injuries, early and late decompression, Governor Vessel Electro-acupuncture, platelet- activating factor, apoptosis, Methylprednisolone, Caspase family, upper cervical spine, animal model, BBB scale