Occurrence of Paraplegia in Abdominal Aortography: Relation to Arterial Blood Pressure and Time of Passage for Sodium Acetrizoate

Previous aortographic observations have indicated that a connection may possibly exist between the occurrence of paraplegia and a delayed passage of contrast medium through the aorta. In this study, abdominal aortography was performed in dogs during normotension and induced hypotension using 50% and 35% sodium acetrizoate. Paraplegia occurred only in the normotensive 50% acetrizoate group. The pre-aortographic blood pressure was higher in the group of paraplegic dogs than in the non-paraplegic dogs. Time of passage for the contrast medium was no different for the paraplegic dogs and the non-paraplegic dogs. Prolongation of the time of passage did not provoke paraplegia.