OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of prior splenectomy on oxidative stress and neuronal loss following spinal cord ischemia and reperfusion injury. METHODS Twenty-one Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups as sham laparatomy (n=7), spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion (SCIR) injury (n=7) and splenectomy+spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion (SSCIR) injury (n=7). In the latter group, splenectomy was performed 3 days before the SCIR injury. The activity of lipid peroxidation in the spinal cord was assessed by malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase (CAT) activities. The difference between the 3 groups was compared using Kruskal-Wallis test. The histological differences were assessed by counting the viable neurons. RESULTS SCIR injury resulted in a decrease of tissue lipid peroxidation activities. There was statistically significance between the three groups (p < 0.05), but there was not any significance between the SCIR and SSCIR injury groups (p > 0.05). The number of viable neurons was higher in SSCIR group when comparing with SCIR group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS SCIR injury affects lipid peroxidation in rats. Prior splenectomy does not attenuate lipid peroxidation, but prevents neuronal loss after SCIR injury.