Abstract: Objective To establish the model of traumatic brain injury in rats with controlled cortical impact (CCI), and investigate the features of coma and cognition. Methods 40 male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into control group (n=10), sham group (n= 10) and CCI group (n=20). CCI group was impacted at bilateral frontal lobe with the velocity of 3.5 m/s, depth of 7 mm and dwell time of 250 ms. The time of consciousness loss was recorded, and all the rats were investigated with Morris Water Maze 10 and 20 days after operation. Results The time of consciousness loss was longer in the CCI group than in the control group and the sham group (P<0.001). The escape latency was longer in the CCI group than in the control group and the sham group (P<0.001), while the percent of time spend in goal quarter during probe trial was less (P<0.001), both 10 days and 20 days after operation. Conclusion CCI at bilateral frontal lobe of rats can establish the model of severe traumatic brain injury with coma and long-term cognitive dysfunction.

Key words: traumatic brain injury, controlled cortical impact, coma, cognitive dysfunction, rats