Systematic Evaluation of Spinal Cord Injury Animal Models in the Field of Biomaterials

This systematic review aims to identify a list of relevant animal models of SCI by evaluating the confirmation of SCI and animal survival in all published SCI models used in biomaterials research up until April 2021. A total of 404 individual animal experiments were identified based on type of SCI, level of SCI, and the sex, species and strain of the animals used. A total of 149 unique animal models were comparatively evaluated, which led to the generation of an evidence-based list of well-documented mid-thoracic rat models of SCI. These models were used most often, clearly confirmed SCI and had relatively high survival rates, and therefore could serve as a future starting point for studying novel biomaterial-based therapies for SCI. Furthermore, the review discusses (i) the possible risk of bias in SCI animal models, (ii) the difficulty in replication of such experiments due to frequent poor reporting of the methods and results, and (iii) the clinical relevance of the currently utilized models.