A Simple and Cost-Effective Weight Drop Model to Induce Contusive Spinal Cord Injury: Functional and Histological Outcomes

Animal spinal cord injury (SCI) models have provided a better perception of the mechanisms related to traumatic SCI and evaluation of the effectiveness of experimental therapeutic interventions.

The aim of this study is to develop a cost-effective modified Allen's device to induce contusive spinal cord injury.

Adult male Wistar rats were subjected to contusive spinal cord injury using a customized weight drop model through 10-g weights delivered from a 25-mm height onto an exposed spinal cord. Locomotor and sensory function during 28 days were assessed. Moreover, histopathological changes were assessed at one week and 28 days post SCI.

All the SCI rats showed hind limb paralysis up to 48 h post SCI and neuropathic pain after injury. Histological changes similar to the previous reports for contusion model were observed.

According to our findings, little variability was observed in the BBB score of individual rats at 28 days after injury. Our customized device to induce spinal cord injury is a simple and inexpensive alternative method to the highly sophisticated contusion device commonly used to induce SCI.