摘要Background:Paraplegia after spinal cord ischemia is a devastating condition in the clinic.Here,we develop an awake rabbit model of spinal cord ischemia with delayed paraplegia and explore the influence of ambient temperature on the outcomes after injury.Methods:A total of 47 male rabbits were involved in the present study.Transient spi-nal cord ischemia was induced by occluding the infrarenal abdominal aorta of awake rabbits at different ambient temperatures.To find the optimal conditions for devel-oping delayed paraplegia,hindlimb motor function after ischemia was evaluated be-tween experiments.Results:The onset and magnitude of ischemic injury varied with the ambient tem-perature maintained during the peri-ischemia period.More serious spinal cord injury occurred when ischemia was induced at higher temperatures.At 18℃,25-minute ischemia resulted in 74％of rabbits developing delayed paraplegia.At a temperature of 28℃ or higher,most of the animals developed acute paraplegia immediately.While at 13℃,rabbits usually regained normal motor function without paraplegia.Conclusion:This awake rabbit model is highly reproducible and will be helpful in fu-ture studies of delayed paraplegia after spinal cord ischemia.The ambient tempera-ture must be considered while using this model during investigation of therapeutic interventions.