Table 2.

Advantages and disadvantages of commonly used spinal cord injury models for translational studies in nonhuman primates

	Contusion	Anatomically incomplete transection	Anatomically complete transection
Advantages	Relevance to most human SCI(blunt traums) Reasonably reproducible injury Particularly suitable for the study of neuroprotective therapy	Critical physiological functions are preserved Less animal handling is needed Defining mechanisms of recovery Permanent, but modest, impairments allow the investigation of therapy-mediated functional improvements	Axonal regeneration can be demonstrated more definitively Recovery of voluntary movements from complete paralysis unequivocally demonstrates therapy-mediated effects
Disadvantages	Ischemia, cavity formation and tissue sparing Major loss of function with severe contusion Significant focus on daily care of the animal Difficult to distinguish between spared and regenerated nerve fibers	May be less relevant than contusion injury for human SCI Sprouting of spared fibers, as opposed to regeneration of cut axons, can be the main mechanism of recovery	High impact on the general health of the animal Psychological trauma Labor-intensive and skilled daily care The major functional impairment for the animal must be carefully balanced with the potential benefits to be gained for humans