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. 2004 Dec;13(8):691–694. doi: 10.1007/s005860100268

Indomethacin blocks the nucleus pulposus-induced effects on nerve root function

An experimental study in dogs with assessment of nerve conduction and blood flow following experimental disc herniation

Itaru Arai 1,✉, Guang -Ping Mao 1, Koji Otani 1, S Konno 1, S Kikuchi 1, K Olmarker 2
PMCID: PMC3454062  PMID: 15316882

Abstract

Inflammatory mechanisms have been suggested to be involved in the basic pathophysiologic events leading to nerve root injury after local application of nucleus pulposus. To assess if these nucleus pulposus-induced effects could be blocked by anti-inflammatory treatment, 41 dogs were exposed to either incision of the L6-7 disc to induce experimental disc herniation with (n=12) or without (n=14) indomethacin treatment per os (5 mg/kg per day), and no incision with (n=5) or without (n=10) indomethacin. Intraneural blood flow and nerve conduction velocity were assessed after 7 days to evaluate the degree of nerve injury. Disc incision induced a reduction in nerve root and dorsal ganglion blood flow as well as nerve function, similarly to previous studies. However, simultaneous treatment with indomethacin efficiently blocked the negative effects on both blood flow and nerve conduction but had no effects per se. The present study thus indicates that inflammatory mechanisms may be of relevance in the pathophysiology of nucleus pulposus-induced nerve root injury and thereby also for sciatica.

Keywords: Sciatica, Disc herniation, Nerve roots, Inflammation, Inflammatory mediators

Footnotes

This study was supported by grants from the Fukushima Medical Research Promotion Foundation and the Swedish Medical Research Council (9758)

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