The Interaction of Intramuscular Ketorolac (Toradol) and Concussion in a Rat Model

Amanda O. Esquivel, Sarah S. Sherman, Cynthia A. Bir, Stephen E. Lemos

The purpose of this study was to examine the interaction of a single dose of Toradol and head impact in an in vivo rat model for sport-related concussion using a validated rat concussion model. Thirty-five Sprague-Dawley rats were placed into one of four groups: (1) Control, (2) Impact Only, (3) Toradol Only, (4) Impact and Toradol. Animals in the impact groups were subjected to a single head impact. Animals in the Toradol group received a single intramuscular injection of Toradol prior to impact. We examined magnetic resonance imaging, serum S100-B and cognitive function using a Morris Water Maze. In the control group, latency decreased significantly from day 0 (74.9 s) to 24 h (57.4 s) after anesthesia. There was no statistically significant difference between time zero and 24 h after impact in the Impact only or Impact and Toradol group. Our findings indicate that there were no differences between cognitive ability, MRI findings or S100B in rats that were administered a single dose of Toradol and subjected to a single impact and rats that were subjected to a single impact only. In both impact groups there were transient changes in cognitive ability as measured by the Morris Water Maze.