AIM:To observe the impact of anisodine (AT3) combined with dexamethasone (Dex) treatment on the flash visual evoked potentials ( F-VEP) and electroretinogram (ERG) of SD rats after optic nerve contusionMETHODS: Thirty adult female SD rats,taken their left eyes as experimental eyes, were divided into A, B, C groups using random numbers, and gripped optic nerve 6 seconds with noninvasive pressure-constant reverse tweezers to establish optic nerve contusion models.Group A was given caudal vein injection of 0.25mL (0.5mg) Dex one day before setting up the model, as well as retrobulbar injection of 0.25mL AT3 in the left eye; Caudal veins of group B was injected the same amount of normal saline by retrobulbar injection; Group C was given both intravenous and retrobulbar injection of normal saline. P1 wave of the F-VEP and b-wave amplitude and peak latency changes of ERG in 3 groups were recorded and compared before and 0.5,1 day,7,14 days after modeling.RESULTS: In group C , 0.5 day after optic nerve injury, F-VEP amplitude decreased significantly when compared with the normal . Peak latency 1 day after modeling had statistical significance when compared with the normal, and peak latency and amplitude decreased progressively during the observation time. In group B 7 days after modeling, the F-VEP amplitude was significantly higher than that in the control group (P=0.031), peak latency shorter than the control group (P=0.012). In group C 7 days after modeling, the F-VEP amplitude was significantly higher than that in the control group (P=0.042), peak latency shorter than the control group (P=0.019).CONCLUSION:Curative effect of AT3 combined with Dex on the recovery of nerve conduction after optic nerve contusion in rats is significantly higher than that of alone applications of Dex.