Review of clinical trials of neuroprotection in acute spinal cord injury

Abstract

In this paper the authors review the clinical trials of neuroprotection that have been performed for the treatment of acute spinal cord injury (SCI). The biological rationale for the selection of each treatment modality is discussed with reference to current knowledge of the principles in the management of acute SCI as well as the primary and secondary injury mechanisms identified by experimental and clinical studies of the pathophysiology of acute SCI. The trials are evaluated with regard to the availability and use of accurate clinical outcome measures, and the methodologies of the trials are critically evaluated with an emphasis on prospective randomized controlled studies. A detailed description and critical analysis are provided of the results of the 10 clinical trials conducted to date in which a randomized prospective controlled design has been used. The issue of the therapeutic time window in acute SCI is discussed. To date, methylprednisolone is the only effective neuroprotective agent that has been established for use in human SCI, and the only therapeutic time window established in human SCI is a maximum trauma-to-treatment time of 8 hours.