The Importance of Vascular Repair as the First Step in Spinal Cord Injury Treatment: Commentary on “Therapeutic Approaches Targeting Vascular Repair After Experimental Spinal Cord Injury: A Systematic Review of the Literature”

The primary focus after a spinal cord injury (SCI) is to reduce further damage and encourage nerve regeneration. However, ensuring adequate blood flow and delivery of treatments to the injured area, through vascular repair, is often overlooked but crucial. This review highlights the pathophysiology following spinal cord injury, focusing on treatments to regenerate blood vessels in the spinal cord, including organic factors, genetic engineering, physical stimulation, cell transplantation, and biomaterial delivery. Recovery from SCI requires restoring the entire network of spinal cord tissues, not just nerve regeneration. Future treatments will likely involve combinations of approaches, such as biomaterials with angiogenic factors or therapeutic cells.

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  Vascular repair is critical for proper perfusion pressure and the effective delivery of drugs or cells to the damaged spinal cord tissue.
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  Angiogenic factors, validated in other tissues, have shown promise in clinical results for spinal cord injury treatment.
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  Combining biomaterials with angiogenic factors or therapeutic cells represents a promising approach for future SCI treatments.