The Louisville Swim Scale: A Novel Assessment of Hindlimb Function following Spinal Cord Injury in Adult Rats

Abstract

The majority of animal studies examining the recovery of function following spinal cord injury use the BBB Open-Field Locomotor Scale as a primary outcome measure. However, it is now well known that rehabilitation strategies can bring about significant improvements in hindlimb function in some animal models. Thus, improvements in walking following spinal cord injury in rats may be influenced by differences in activity levels and housing conditions during the first few weeks post-injury. Swimming is a natural form of locomotion that animals are not normally exposed to in the laboratory setting. We hypothesized that deficits in, and functional recovery of, swimming would accurately represent the locomotor capability of the nervous system in the absence of any retraining effects. To test this hypothesis, we have compared the recovery of walking and swimming in rats following a range of standardized spinal cord injuries and two different retraining strategies. In order to assess swimming, we developed a rating system we call the Louisville Swimming Scale (LSS) that evaluates three characteristics of swimming that are highly altered by spinal cord injury-namely, hindlimb movement, forelimb dependency, and body position. The data indicate that the LSS is a sensitive and reliable method of determining swimming ability and the improvement in hindlimb function after standardized contusion injury of the thoracic spinal cord. Furthermore, the data suggests that when used in conjunction with the BBB Open-field Locomotor Scale, the LSS assesses locomotor capabilities that are not influenced by a retraining effect.

Assessment of Depression in a Rodent Model of Spinal Cord Injury

“…However, it is possible that the correlation between tactile reactivity and swimming time might reflect subtle sparing of specific spinal tracts related to sensorimotor functions that are not fundamental to walking. Indeed, Smith and colleagues 50 found a correlation between spared WM at the SCI epicenter and swimming ability assessed with the Louisville Swim Scale. Whereas the FST after a contusion injury relies on forelimb function primarily, 50 any spared hindlimb function would facilitate swimming.…”

“…Indeed, Smith and colleagues 50 found a correlation between spared WM at the SCI epicenter and swimming ability assessed with the Louisville Swim Scale. Whereas the FST after a contusion injury relies on forelimb function primarily, 50 any spared hindlimb function would facilitate swimming. Relationships between tract sparing and specific sensorimotor functions need to be further evaluated.…”

Evaluation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor in Treatment of Complete Spinal Cord Injury

“…To assess the treatments, Louisville Swim Scale (LSS) score was calculated [30]. LSS score uses five modalities including fore limb dependency, hind limb movement, hind limb alteration, body angel, and trunk instability.…”

Effect of Antidepressant Therapy on Psychological Health, Rehabilitation, Plasticity, and Functional Recovery After Spinal Cord Injury in a Rodent Model

“…We found that post-SCI exercise rehabilitation induced a significant increase in fore-hind limb coordination as indicated by improved regularity index scores ( figure 3). Additionally, the Louisville Swim Scale was used to evaluate hind-limb function 6 . For this test, each rat swam laps in a Plexiglass pool for 4 minutes and was recorded with a digital camera.…”

“…For this test, each rat swam laps in a Plexiglass pool for 4 minutes and was recorded with a digital camera. Recordings were analyzed for hindlimb movement, forelimb dependency, and body angle in the water as previously described 6 . We found that post-SCI exercise rehabilitation training induced an increase in the hindlimb motor performance as compared to controls that received no rehabilitation training, but this trend did not reach statistical significance (figure 4).…”