Experimental spinal cord contusion injury: Comparison of different outcome parameters (original) (raw)

Research on experimental spinal cord injuries recently underwent some major advances in lesion standardization and evaluation of locomotor recovery. Many laboratories now use the same lesion apparatus, the MASCIS-device, for inducing spinal contusion injury, combined with the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB)-locomotor rating scale as the main functional outcome parameter. Here, we present our experience concerning injury reproducibility and analysis of locomotor recovery using the MASCIS-device and the BBB-locomotor rating scale under the experimental conditions in our lab, as a reference for future intervention studies. The data indicate a highly reproducible injury, and graded spontaneous locomotor recovery specific for each injury intensity used. Furthermore, we describe a computer program that we have developed to standardize input, storage, and analysis of the BBB-data. Use of this program for archiving BBB-data enables easy access to the original items and thus post-hoc analysis of data.