Prevention of ischaemia-induced small intestinal adhesions in foals.

Reasons For Performing Study: Treatments addressing variously theorised pathophysiological mechanisms of small intestinal adhesions have been reported. This study applied those classes of treatments to the most clinically relevant aetiology of post operative adhesions.

Hypothesis: Treatments addressing the pathophysiology of ischaemia-reperfusion induced adhesions would accordingly reduce the incidence of adhesions from this model.

The effects of corticosteroid administration on the migration, phagocytosis and bactericidal capacity of equine neutrophils.

Neutrophil function was evaluated in six clinically normal adult horses, immediately before and 3-6 hours after they were given one dose of hydrocortisone sodium succinate (1 mg/kg body weight). Random migration, stimulated migration to zymosan-activated serum, bacterial phagocytosis and bactericidal capacity of neutrophils were determined in vitro. The mean indices of stimulated migration (net migration and migration ratio) were significantly greater after CS administration (net migration = 62 +/- 23 micron; migration ratio = 11.

Assessment of neutrophil migration, phagocytosis and bactericidal capacity in neonatal foals.

Comparison of neutrophil function was made between 8 clinically normal pony foals (3 to 7 days of age), and their dams. Random migration, stimulated migration to zymosan-activated serum, bacterial phagocytosis and bactericidal capacity of neutrophils were determined in vitro. Random migration was greater (P less than 0.

Evaluation of granulocyte transfusion in healthy neonatal pony foals.

Granulocyte transfusions (GT), 0.98 X 10(9) neutrophils/kg of body weight, were performed on 7 healthy pony foals between 2 and 7 days old. The mean neutrophil count of the foals was significantly (P less than 0.