No abstract

Summary The records of 74 horses that recovered from anaesthesia after surgery for a small intestinal lesion from 1994 to 1999 were reviewed. Sixty‐three horses (85%) had a strangulating lesion and 43 of these (68%) had a resection and anastomosis. Four of 11 horses (36%) without a strangulating lesion had a resection and anastomosis. Sixty‐three horses (85%) survived to discharge, with a survival rate of 53/63 in horses with a strangulating lesion (84%) and 10/11 (91%) in others. For all lesions, short‐term survival for all end‐to‐end anastomoses (91%; 21/23) and for no resection (92%; 23/25) were superior (P<0.05) to survival for jejunocaecal anastomosis (76%; 19/25). Fourteen horses (19%) had a repeat abdominal surgery during hospitalisation; 9 of these (64%) survived short‐term. Postoperative ileus developed in 7/70 horses (10%) after surgery for a problem other than proximal enteritis, and all had a strangulating lesion. Postoperative ileus (POI) was more likely after a jejunocaecostomy than after other procedures, and did not develop after a jejunojejunostomy. Survival >7 months was 52/69 (75%) and for >12 months was 39/57 (68%). The estimated prevalence of adhesions was 13%. Short‐term survival was poorest in horses that had a jejunocaecostomy, but long‐term survival was less affected by the anastomosis used. The sharpest decline in survival was during the first postoperative week and postoperative mortality then declined over time after surgery. A postoperative protocol that allowed early postoperative feeding was well tolerated. The results confirm that the overall prognosis after small intestinal surgery in horses is improved over earlier findings.

Objective Children who are less fit reportedly have lower performance on tests of cognitive control and differences in brain function. This study examined the effect of an exercise intervention on brain function during two cognitive control tasks in overweight children. Design and Methods Participants included 43 unfit, overweight (BMI ≥ 85th percentile) children 8- to 11-years old (91% Black), who were randomly divided into either an aerobic exercise (n = 24) or attention control group (n = 19). Each group was offered a separate instructor-led after-school program every school day for 8 months. Before and after the program, all children performed two cognitive control tasks during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI): antisaccade and flanker. Results Compared to the control group, the exercise group decreased activation in several regions supporting antisaccade performance, including precentral gyrus and posterior parietal cortex, and increased activation in several regions supporting flanker performance, including anterior cingulate and superior frontal gyrus. Conclusions Exercise may differentially impact these two task conditions, or the paradigms in which cognitive control tasks were presented may be sensitive to distinct types of brain activation that show different effects of exercise. In sum, exercise appears to alter efficiency or flexible modulation of neural circuitry supporting cognitive control in overweight children.

In childhood, excess adiposity and low fitness are linked to poor academic performance, lower cognitive function, and differences in brain structure. Identifying ways to mitigate obesity-related alterations is of current clinical importance. This study examined the effects of an 8-month exercise intervention on the uncinate fasciculus, a white matter fiber tract connecting frontal and temporal lobes. Participants consisted of 18 unfit, overweight 8–11 year-old children (94% Black) who were randomly assigned to either an aerobic exercise (n=10) or a sedentary control group (n=8). Before and after the intervention, all subjects participated in a diffusion tensor MRI scan. Tractography was conducted to isolate the uncinate fasciculus. The exercise group showed improved white matter integrity as compared to the control group. These findings are consistent with an emerging literature suggesting beneficial effects of exercise on white matter integrity.