Change in body surface temperature as an ancillary measurement to motor evoked potentials

• Published in: Spinal cord 2015-11, Vol.53 (11), p.827-834
• Main Authors: Yang, J H, Suh, S W, Park, Y-S, Lee, J-H, Park, B K, Ham, C H, Choi, J W
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/378/2597/2600; 692/698/1688/1366/1823; Anatomy; Animals; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Body Temperature - physiology; Disease Models, Animal; Electroencephalography; Evoked Potentials, Motor - physiology; Human Physiology; Male; Muscle, Skeletal - physiopathology; Neurochemistry; Neuropsychology; Neurosciences; original-article; Pain Measurement; Rabbits; Spinal Cord Injuries - physiopathology
• ISSN: 1362-4393; 1476-5624
• DOI: 10.1038/sc.2015.90

Study design: Experimental study. Objectives: To study the role of surface temperature as an adjunct to motor evoked potentials (MEPs) in rabbit spinal cord injury (SCI) model. Setting: Department of Orthopedics, Korea University Guro Hospital, Seoul, Korea. Methods: Rabbits ( n =18) were divided into Complete ( n =9) and Incomplete ( n =9) SCI groups. Complete SCI was defined as being non-responsive to a wake-up test with loss of MEPs after transection of spinal cord. Incomplete SCI was defined as being responsive to a wake-up test with significant attenuation (⩾80%) of MEPs after impaction on spinal cord. Surface temperature of upper and lower extremities, core temperature and MEPs signals were checked before, during and after SCI for 20 min. A wake-up test was conducted and spinal cord was histologicaly evaluated. Results: Experimental conditions between the two groups were statistically similar ( P >0.005 for all values). After SCI, upper extremity temperatures did not change in either group ( P >0.005); however, the surface temperature of the lower extremities in the Complete SCI Group elevated to 1.7±0.5 °C in comparison to 0.5±0.1 °C in the Incomplete SCI Group ( P