Effect of nimodipine-associated hypotension on recovery from acute spinal cord injury in cats

The effect of nimodipine on acute spinal cord trauma was studied in cats. Spinal evoked responses (SERs) were abolished after weight drop injury of 100 g-cm. All control animals showed spontaneous recovery of spinal cord function as measured by SERs. Treatment with a moderate intravenous dose of nimodipine resulted in a 32% drop in systemic blood pressure and delay in or failure of spinal cord recovery. We concluded that in this model, nimodipine treatment had deleterious effect on the spinal cord recovery due to the significant associated hypotension. It is likely that marked hypotension in the case of traumatic loss of autoregulation overrides the expected nimodipine-related increase in spinal cord blood flow with resultant additional ischemic damage.