The Effects of Hippotherapy on Standing Balance in Patients with Incomplete Cervical Spinal Cord Injuries: A Pilot Study

The present study was designed to evaluate the effects of hippotherapy on standing balance in patients with incomplete cervical spinal cord injuries. Ten patients (8 men and 2 women) who were diagnosed with cervical levels of injury between 3 and 6, and D according to the ASIA Impairment Scale. All patients were tested by the physiotherapists prior to and after hippotherapy treatment. Standing balance was measured using the Interactive Balance System (IBS). The weight distribution index was significantly increased in application of hippotherapy compared with control groups in patients with a neurologic level of cervical 3 and 4, and with Brown-Sequard syndrome, respectively. However, most of the patients exhibited no significant changes in the standing balance index, such as F1, F2-4, F5-6, F7-8, and SI scores, after hippotherapy. These results suggest that hippotherapy did not have a significant effect on the standing balance of patients with incomplete cervical spinal cord injuries.

From single to combinatorial therapies in spinal cord injuries for structural and functional restoration

Spinal cord injury results in paralysis, sensory disturbances, sphincter dysfunction, and multiple systemic secondary conditions, most arising from autonomic dysregulation. All this produces profound negative psychosocial implications for affected people, their families, and their communities;the financial costs can be challenging for their families and health institutions. Treatments aimed at restoring the spinal cord after spinal cord injury, which have been tested in animal models or clinical trials, generally seek to counteract one or more of the secondary mechanisms of injury to limit the extent of the initial damage. Most published works on structural/functional restoration in acute and chronic spinal cord injury stages use a single type of treatment: a drug or trophic factor, transplant of a cell type, and implantation of a biomaterial. Despite the significant benefits reported in animal models, when translating these successful therapeutic strategies to humans, the result in clinical trials has been considered of little relevance because the improvement, when present, is usually insufficient. Until now, most studies designed to promote neuroprotection or regeneration at different stages after spinal cord injury have used single treatments. Considering the occurrence of various secondary mechanisms of injury in the acute and sub-acute phases of spinal cord injury, it is reasonable to speculate that more than one therapeutic agent could be required to promote structural and functional restoration of the damaged spinal cord. Treatments that combine several therapeutic agents, targeting different mechanisms of injury, which, when used as a single therapy, have shown some benefits, allow us to assume that they will have synergistic beneficial effects. Thus, this narrative review article aims to summarize current trends in the use of strategies that combine therapeutic agents administered simultaneously or sequentially, seeking structural and functional restoration of the injured spinal cord.

Decision-Making and Management of Self-Care in Persons with Traumatic Spinal Cord Injuries: A Preliminary Study

Patients and physicians understand the importance of self-care following spinal cord injury (SCI), yet many individuals with SCI do not adhere to recommended self-care activities despite logistical supports. Neurobehavioral determinants of SCI self-care behavior, such as impulsivity, are not widely studied, yet understanding them could inform efforts to improve SCI self-care. We explored associations between impulsivity and self-care in an observational study of 35 US adults age 18 - 50 who had traumatic SCI with paraplegia at least six months before assessment. The primary outcome measure was self-reported self-care. In LASSO regression models that included all neurobehavioral measures and demographics as predictors of self-care, dispositional measures of greater impulsivity (negative urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance), and reduced mindfulness were associated with reduced self-care. Outcome (magnitude) sensitivity, a latent decision-making parameter derived from computationally modeling successive choices in a gambling task, was also associated with self-care behavior. These results are preliminary;more research is needed to demonstrate the utility of these findings in clinical settings. Information about associations between impulsivity and poor self-care in people with SCI could guide the development of interventions to improve SCI self-care and help patients with elevated risks related to self-care and secondary health conditions.

Prospects for the use of olfactory mucosa cells in bioprinting for the treatment of spinal cord injuries

The review focuses on the most important areas of cell therapy for spinal cord injuries.Olfactory mucosa cells are promising for transplantation.Obtaining these cells is safe for patients.The use of olfactory mucosa cells is effective in restoring motor function due to the remyelination and regeneration of axons after spinal cord injuries.These cells express neurotrophic factors that play an important role in the functional recovery of nerve tissue after spinal cord injuries.In addition,it is possible to increase the content of neurotrophic factors,at the site of injury,exogenously by the direct injection of neurotrophic factors or their delivery using gene therapy.The advantages of olfactory mucosa cells,in combination with neurotrophic factors,open up wide possibilities for their application in threedimensional and four-dimensional bioprinting technology treating spinal cord injuries.

Effects of decompression joint Governor Vessel electro-acupuncture on rats with acute upper cervical spinal cord injury

Decompression is the major therapeutic strategy for acute spinal cord injury,but there is some debate about the time window for decompression following spinal cord injury.An important goal and challenge in the treatment of spinal cord injury is inhibiting or reversing secondary injury.Governor Vessel electroacupuncture can improve symptoms of spinal cord injury by inhibiting cell apoptosis and improving the microenvironment of the injured spinal cord.In this study,Governor Vessel electroacupuncture combined with decompression at different time points was used to treat acute spinal cord injury.The rat models were established by inserting a balloon catheter into the atlanto-occipital space.The upper cervical spinal cord was compressed for 12 or 48 hours prior to decompression.Electroacupuncture was conducted at the acupoints Dazhui（GV14） and Baihui（GV 20）（2 Hz,15 minutes） once a day for 14 consecutive days.Compared with decompression alone,hind limb motor function recovery was superior after decompression for 12 and 48 hours combined with electroacupuncture.However,the recovery of motor function was not significantly different at 14 days after treatment in rats receiving decompression for 12 hours.Platelet-activating factor levels and caspase-9 protein expression were significantly reduced in rats receiving electroacupuncture compared with decompression alone.These findings indicate that compared with decompression alone,Governor Vessel electroacupuncture combined with delayed decompression（48 hours） is more effective in the treatment of upper cervical spinal cord injury.Governor Vessel electroacupuncture combined with early decompression（12 hours） can accelerate the recovery of nerve movement in rats with upper cervical spinal cord injury.Nevertheless,further studies are necessary to confirm whether it is possible to obtain additional benefit compared with early decompression alone.

Technical comments on rodent spinal cord injuries models

Spinal cord injuries （SCI） in rodents have been created by laceration, contusion, compression, or intramedullary injection of toxic agents. The choice of an appropriate SCI model should be made for each study based on the experimental design, with care taken to avoid unintended complications such as hemorrhage. Technical comments will be made in this communication describing the 1） importance of vertebral stabi- lization, 2） injury preparation, and 3） landmarks to improve the preci- sion and reproducibility of the SCI.

New perspectives for investigating respiratory failure induced by cervical spinal cord injury

Traumatic cervical spinal cord injury （SCI）, with an annual incidence of 12,000 new cases in USA （NSCISC 2013）, causes devastating locomotor and respiratory paralysis and unfortunately compromises the human patient＇s lifespan. The severity of the injury depends on the degree and the extent of the initial trauma. In fact, respiratory failure is the leading cause of mortality following upper cervical SCI. However, 80% of the injuries are incomplete, allowing some modest spontaneous recovery. To date, no effective treatment is available in order to restore the loss of function.

New insight into curcumin-based therapy in spinal cord injuries： CISD2 regulation

Multiple protective effects of curcumin in cases of spinal cord injuries（SCIs）：Curcumin[1,7-bis（4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl）-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione]is a nonsteroidal,naturally occurring compound commonly utilized as a dietary pigment as well as a spice in India.It is obtained from curcuma longa in.

Peripheral blood RNA biomarkers can predict lesion severity in degenerative cervical myelopathy

Degenerative cervical myelopathy is a common cause of spinal cord injury,with longer symptom duration and higher myelopathy severity indicating a worse prognosis.While numerous studies have investigated serological biomarkers for acute spinal cord injury,few studies have explored such biomarkers for diagnosing degenerative cervical myelopathy.This study involved 30 patients with degenerative cervical myelopathy(51.3±7.3 years old,12 women and 18 men),seven healthy controls(25.7±1.7 years old,one woman and six men),and nine patients with cervical spondylotic radiculopathy(51.9±8.6 years old,three women and six men).Analysis of blood samples from the three groups showed clear differences in transcriptomic characteristics.Enrichment analysis identified 128 differentially expressed genes that were enriched in patients with neurological disabilities.Using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator analysis,we constructed a five-gene model(TBCD,TPM2,PNKD,EIF4G2,and AP5Z1)to diagnose degenerative cervical myelopathy with an accuracy of 93.5%.One-gene models(TCAP and SDHA)identified mild and severe degenerative cervical myelopathy with accuracies of 83.3%and 76.7%,respectively.Signatures of two immune cell types(memory B cells and memory-activated CD4^(+)T cells)predicted levels of lesions in degenerative cervical myelopathy with 80%accuracy.Our results suggest that peripheral blood RNA biomarkers could be used to predict lesion severity in degenerative cervical myelopathy.

Functional evaluation using several evoked spinal cord potentials in elderly patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy

BACKGROUND ： The recordings of evoked spinal cord potentials following epidural spinal cord stimulation are thought to be generated by volleys traversing the dorsal column pathway, and it may not directly reflect conduction defects in corticospinat tracts of cervical spinal cord. To our knowledge there has been few report using several evoked spinal cord potentials in function evaluation of the cervical spinal cord in eldedy patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy （CSM）. OBJECTIVE： To investigate the function states of the cervical spinal cord in elderly patients with CSM and explore its pathophysictogic mechanism. DESIGN： Case observation SETTING ： Department of Orthopedics for the aged, Shenzhen Pingle Hospital of Orthopedics. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine. PARTICIPANTS ： A total of 23 eldedy patients with CSM who received treatment in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine of Japan from January 2003 to February 2004 were enrolled in this study. Inclusive criteria： ① Multiple intervertebral levels of cervical spinal cord compression confirmed by MRI, e.g. 3 or more than 3 levels of compressin. ② Age ≥ 70 years old. ③ Numbness and sensory disturbance in the upper limbs and showed hyperreflexia in the lower limbs. Exclusive criteria： Patients with abnormal motor and sensory nerve conduction velocities in both upper and lower limbs were excluded. METHODS： Evoked spinal cord potentials （ESCPs） following transcranial electric stimulation （TCE-ESCPs）, epidural spinal cord stimulation （SpinaI-ESCPs） and median nerve stimulation （MN-ESCPs） were recorded in 23 patients from posterior epidural space intreoperatively. The abnormalities of TCE-ESCPs were defined as attenuation of amplitude of the D wave. The most cranial intervertebral level showing abnormal TCE-ESCPs with a marked reduction in size of the negative peak （reduction of over 50%） was considered as the upper level of the spinal cord lesion with respect to the corticospinal tract in white matter. The abnormalities of SpinaI-ESCPs were defined as marked reduction in the size of negative peak （reduction of over 50%）. The most caudal intervertebral level showing abnormal SpinaI-ESCPs was considered as the lower level of the spinal cord lesion with respect to the dorsal column pathway in white matter. The abnormalities of MN-ESCPs were defined as attenuation of the N13 amplitude,which was considered as the lesion level of the spinal cord with respect to the dorsal horn in gray matter. Radiological investigation： Lateral view of plain X-ray films was obtained in flexion and extension of the cervical spine. Instability of the cervical intervertebral level was determined as horizontal displacement of the vertebral body of over 3 mm. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES ： The results of examination of TCE-ESCPs, SpinaI-ESCPs and MN-ESCPs in el- dedy patients with CSM. RESULTS： The 23 eldedy patients with CSM were participated in the result analysis. ①TCE-ESCPs： The impairment of the corticospinal tract in white matter at single intervertebral level was revealed in 18 of 23 patients by recordings of TCE-ESCPs （sensitivity 78%）. In the 18 patients, the lesion level was shown at the up- per cervical segment in 14 patients （C3-4n=10 and C4-5n=4）, and at the lower cervical segment in 4 patients （C5-6n=4）. ②Spinal-ESCPs： The impairment of the dorsal column pathway of white matter at single intervertebral level was revealed in 17 of 23 patients, by recordings of Spinal-ESCPs （sensitivity 74%）. In the 17 patients, the lesion level was presented at the upper cervical segment in 14 patients （C3-4n=10 and C4-5n=4）, and at the lower cervical segment in 3 patients （C5-6 n=3）. ③MN-ESCPs： All patients revealed abnormal MN-ESCPs at one or more intervertebral levels （sensitivity 100%）. The impairment at single intervertebral level was demonstrated in 17 patients, and the impairment at multiple intervertebral levels was shown in 4 patients （3 patients at the C3-4, C4-4, and C5-4~6, and one patient at the C4-5, C5-6, and C6-7）. ④Radiological findings： The Instability of the intervertebral level at the C3-4 or C4-5 motion segment was seen in 15 patients, with a total of 20 levels, and where 10 were at the C3-4 intervertebral level and 5 were at the C3-4, C4-5 intervertebral level. CONCLUSION ： The results suggest that in most elderly patients with CSM who have multiple intervertebral level compressions of the cervical spinal cord on MRI, white matter is impaired at the single cervical intervertebral level, and not only the dorsal column pathway, but also the corticospinal tract can be affected. Combined the findings of radiography, the excessive motion and instability of the C3-4 or C4-5 intervertebral level plays an important role in inducing the long tract lesion in elderly patients with CSM.

Clinical features of multiple trauma patients combined with spine and spinal cord injuries

Objective To analyze the clinical features of the multiple trauma patients combined with spine and spinal cord injuries.Methods A retrospective study was performed in143multiple trauma patients combined with spine and spinal

Massage Treatment for Spinal cord of Cervical Spondylosis

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WJSC 6^(th) Anniversary Special Issues(2):Mesenchymal stem cells Mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of spinal cord injuries:A review

With technological advances in basic research,the intricate mechanism of secondary delayed spinal cord injury(SCI)continues to unravel at a rapid pace.However,despite our deeper understanding of the molecular changes occurring after initial insult to the spinal cord,the cure for paralysis remains elusive.Current treatment of SCI is limited to early administration of high dose steroids to mitigate the harmful effect of cord edema that occurs after SCI and to reduce the cascade of secondary delayed SCI.R ecent evident-based clinical studies have cast doubt on the clinical benefit of steroids in SCI and intense focus on stem cell-based therapy has yielded some encouraging results.An array of mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs)from various sources with novel and promising strategies are being developed to improve function after SCI.In this review,we briefly discuss the pathophysiology of spinal cord injuries and characteristics and the potential sources of MSCs that can be used in the treatment of SCI.We will discuss the progress of MSCs application in research,focusing on the neuroprotective properties of MSCs.Finally,we will discuss the results from preclinical and clinical trials involving stem cell-based therapy in SCI.

Rehabilitation of spinal cord injuries

Spinal cord injury(SCI) is the injury of the spinal cord from the foramen magnum to the cauda equina whichoccurs as a result of compulsion, incision or contusion. The most common causes of SCI in the world are traffic accidents, gunshot injuries, knife injuries, falls and sports injuries. There is a strong relationship between functional status and whether the injury is complete or not complete, as well as the level of the injury. The results of SCI bring not only damage to independence and physical function, but also include many complications from the injury. Neurogenic bladder and bowel, urinary tract infections, pressure ulcers, orthostatic hypotension, fractures, deep vein thrombosis, spasticity, autonomic dysreflexia, pulmonary and cardiovascular problems, and depressive disorders are frequent complications after SCI. SCI leads to serious disability in the patient resulting in the loss of work, which brings psychosocial and economic problems. The treatment and rehabilitation period is long, expensive and exhausting in SCI. Whether complete or incomplete, SCI rehabilitation is a long process that requires patience and motivation of the patient and relatives. Early rehabilitation is important to prevent joint contractures and the loss of muscle strength, conservation of bone density, and to ensure normal functioning of the respiratory and digestive system. An interdisciplinary approach is essential in rehabilitation in SCI, as in the other types of rehabilitation. The team is led by a physiatrist and consists of the patients' family, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, dietician, psychologist, speech therapist, social worker and other consultant specialists as necessary.

Acute complications of spinal cord injuries

The aim of this paper is to give an overview of acute complications of spinal cord injury(SCI). Along with motor and sensory deficits, instabilities of the cardiovascular, thermoregulatory and broncho-pulmonary system are common after a SCI. Disturbances of the urinary and gastrointestinal systems are typical as well as sexual dysfunction. Frequent complications of cervical and high thoracic SCI are neurogenic shock, bradyarrhythmias, hypotension, ectopic beats, abnormal temperaturecontrol and disturbance of sweating, vasodilatation and autonomic dysreflexia. Autonomic dysreflexia is an abrupt, uncontrolled sympathetic response, elicited by stimuli below the level of injury. The symptoms may be mild like skin rash or slight headache, but can cause severe hypertension, cerebral haemorrhage and death. All personnel caring for the patient should be able to recognize the symptoms and be able to intervene promptly. Disturbance of respiratory function are frequent in tetraplegia and a primary cause of both short and long-term morbidity and mortality is pulmonary complications. Due to physical inactivity and altered haemostasis, patients with SCI have a higher risk of venous thromboembolism and pressure ulcers. Spasticity and pain are frequent complications which need to be addressed. The psychological stress associated with SCI may lead to anxiety and depression. Knowledge of possible complications during the acute phase is important because they may be life threatening and/ or may lead to prolonged rehabilitation.

Establishment and verification of a surgical prognostic model for cervical spinal cord injury without radiological abnormality

Some studies have suggested that early surgical treatment can effectively improve the prognosis of cervical spinal cord injury without radiological abnormality, but no research has focused on the development of a prognostic model of cervical spinal cord injury without radiological abnormality. This retrospective analysis included 43 patients with cervical spinal cord injury without radiological abnormality. Seven potential factors were assessed: age, sex, external force strength causing damage, duration of disease, degree of cervical spinal stenosis, Japanese Orthopaedic Association score, and physiological cervical curvature. A model was established using multiple binary logistic regression analysis. The model was evaluated by concordant profiling and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. Bootstrapping was used for internal validation. The prognostic model was as follows: logit(P) =-25.4545 + 21.2576 VALUE + 1.2160SCORE-3.4224 TIME, where VALUE refers to the Pavlov ratio indicating the extent of cervical spinal stenosis, SCORE refers to the Japanese Orthopaedic Association score(0–17) after the operation, and TIME refers to the disease duration(from injury to operation). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for all patients was 0.8941(95% confidence interval, 0.7930–0.9952). Three factors assessed in the predictive model were associated with patient outcomes: a great extent of cervical stenosis, a poor preoperative neurological status, and a long disease duration. These three factors could worsen patient outcomes. Moreover, the disease prognosis was considered good when logit(P) ≥-2.5105. Overall, the model displayed a certain clinical value. This study was approved by the Biomedical Ethics Committee of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, China(approval number: 2018063) on May 8, 2018.

Anesthetic considerations for patients with acute cervical spinal cord injury

Anesthesiologists work to prevent or minimize secondary injury of the nervous system and improve the outcome of medical procedures.To this end,anesthesiologists must have a thorough understanding of pathophysiology and optimize their skills and equipment to make an anesthesia plan.Anesthesiologists should conduct careful physical examinations of patients and consider neuroprotection at preoperative interviews,consider cervical spinal cord movement and compression during airway management,and suggest awake fiberoptic bronchoscope intubation for stable patients and direct laryngoscopy with manual in-line immobilization in emergency situations.During induction,anesthesiologists should avoid hypotension and depolarizing muscle relaxants.Mean artery pressure should be maintained within 85–90 mmHg（1 mmHg = 0.133 kPa; vasoactive drug selection and fluid management）.Normal arterial carbon dioxide pressure and normal blood glucose levels should be maintained.Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring is a useful option.Anesthesiologists should be attentive to postoperative respiratory insufficiency（carefully considering postoperative extubation）,thrombus,and infection.In conclusion,anesthesiologists should carefully plan the treatment of patients with acute cervical spinal cord injuries to protect the nervous system and improve patient outcome.

Current and future surgery strategies for spinal cord injuries

Spinal cord trauma is a prominent cause of mortality and morbidity. In developed countries a spinal cord injury(SCI) occurs every 16 min. SCI occurs due to tissue destruction, primarily by mechanical and secondarily ischemic. Primary damage occurs at the time of the injury. It cannot be improved. Following the primary injury, secondary harm mechanisms gradually result in neuronal death. One of the prominent causesof secondary harm is energy deficit, emerging from ischemia, whose main cause in the early stage, is impaired perfusion. Due to the advanced techniques in spinal surgery, SCI is still challenging for surgeons. Spinal cord doesn't have a self-repair property. The main damage occurs at the time of the injury primarily by mechanical factors that cannot be improved. Secondarily mechanisms take part in the following sections. Spinal compression and neurological deficit are two major factors used to decide on surgery. According to advanced imaging techniques the classifications systems for spinal injury has been changed in time. Aim of the surgery is to decompress the spinal channel and to restore the spinal alinement and mobilize the patient as soon as possible. Use of neuroprotective agents as well as methods to achieve cell regeneration in addition to surgery would contribute to the solution.

Expression of c-fos in gastric myenteric plexus and spinal cord of rats with cervical spondylosis

AIM: To determine the expression of c-fos in gastric myenteric plexus and spinal cord of rats with cervical spondylosis and its clinical significance. METHODS: A cervical spondylosis model was established in rats by destroying the stability of cervical posterior column,and the cord segments C4-6 and gastric antrum were collected 3, 4 and 5 mo after the operation. Rats with sham operation were used as controls. c-fos neuronal counter-staining was performed with an immunohistochemistry method. Every third sections from C4-6 segments were drawn. The 10 most labeled c-fos-immunoreactive (Fos-IR) neurons were counted, and the average number was used for statistical analysis. The mean of Fos-IR neurons in myenteric plexus was calculated after counting Fos-IR neurons in 25 ganglia from each antral preparation, and expressed as a mean count per myenteric ganglion.RESULTS: There were a few c-fos-positive neurons in the cervical cord and antrum in the control group. There was an increased c-fos expression in model group 3, 4 and 5 mo after operation, whereas there was no significant increase in c-fos expression in the control group at 3, 4 and 5 mo.More importantly, there was a significant difference in c-fos expression between rats followed up for 3 mo and those for 5 mo in the model group (11.20±2.26 vs 27.68±4.36,P＜0.05, for the cervical cord; and 11.3±2.3 vs 29.3±4.6,P＜0.05, for the gastric antrum). There was no significant difference between rats followed up for 3 mo and those for 4 mo and between rats followed up for 4 mo and those for 5 mo in the model group.CONCLUSION: c-fos expression in gastric myenteric plexus was dramatically associated with that in the spinal cord in rats with cervical spondylosis, suggesting that the gastrointestinal function may be affected by cervical spondylosis. If this hypothesis is confirmed by further studies, functional gastrointestinal diseases such as functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome could be explained by neurogastroenterology.

Effects of neural stem cell transplantation on the motor function of rats with contusion spinal cord injuries:a meta-analysis

Objective:To judge the efficacies of neural stem cell(NSC)transplantation on functional recovery following contusion spinal cord injuries(SCIs).Data sources:Studies in which NSCs were transplanted into a clinically relevant,standardized rat model of contusion SCI were identified by searching the PubMed,Embase and Cochrane databases,and the extracted data were analyzed by Stata 14.0.Data selection:Inclusion criteria were that NSCs were used in in vivo animal studies to treat contusion SCIs and that behavioral assessment of locomotor functional recovery was performed using the Basso,Beattie,and Bresnahan lo-comotor rating scale.Exclusion criteria included a follow-up of less than 4 weeks and the lack of control groups.Outcome measures:The restoration of motor function was assessed by the Basso,Beattie,and Bresnahan locomotor rating scale.Results:We identified 1756 non-duplicated papers by searching the aforementioned electronic databases,and 30 full-text articles met the inclusion criteria.A total of 37 studies reported in the 30 articles were included in the meta-analysis.The meta-analysis results showed that transplanted NSCs could improve the motor function recovery of rats following contusion SCIs,to a moderate extent(pooled standardized mean difference(SMD)=0.73;95%confidence interval(CI):0.47–1.00;P<0.001).NSCs obtained from different donor species(rat:SMD=0.74;95%CI:0.36–1.13;human:SMD=0.78;95%CI:0.31–1.25),at different donor ages(fetal:SMD=0.67;95%CI:0.43–0.92;adult:SMD=0.86;95%CI:0.50–1.22)and from different origins(brain-derived:SMD=0.59;95%CI:0.27–0.91;spinal cord-derived:SMD=0.51;95%CI:0.22–0.79)had similar efficacies on improved functional recovery;however,adult induced pluripotent stem cell-derived NSCs showed no significant efficacies.Furthermore,the use of higher doses of transplanted NSCs or the administration of immunosuppressive agents did not promote better locomotor function recovery(SMD=0.45;95%CI:0.21–0.70).However,shorter periods between the contusion induction and the NSC transplantation showed slightly higher efficacies(acute:SMD=1.22;95%CI:0.81–1.63;subacute:SMD=0.75;95%CI:0.42–1.09).For chronic injuries,NSC implantation did not significantly improve functional recovery(SMD=0.25;95%CI:–0.16 to 0.65).Conclusion:NSC transplantation alone appears to be a positive yet limited method for the treatment of contusion SCIs.