Methods and devices are disclosed herein that generally involve cooling tissue (e.g., localized cooling of tissue), and in particular applying therapeutic hypothermia to the spinal canal, tissue disposed within the spinal canal, and/or nerve roots extending from the spinal canal. In some embodiments, tissue can be cooled by clamping a cooling instrument to a bone or implant that is proximate to the tissue. The cooling instrument can define a chamber through which a chilled fluid, expandable gas, or other coolant means can be circulated, delivered, or activated to cool adjacent tissue. The degree of cooling can be regulated using a controller, which can be configured to increase or decrease the cooling effect based on any of a variety of measured or predicted physiological or thermodynamic properties. Methods are disclosed for utilizing cooling instruments and for carrying out various treatment regimens that involve cooling tissue using such instruments.
