Return to Yoga Rates Are High After Volar Plating of Distal Radius Fractures.

Background: Yoga is a popular activity involving extreme wrist positioning and extension loading. Our purpose was to quantify the prevalence of preoperative yoga participation and characterize subsequent ability to return to yoga in patients undergoing volar locked plating of distal radius fractures. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all cases of distal radius open reduction internal fixation between August 2015 and March 2017. Patients were included if they were treated with volar locked plating and if they participated in yoga on a regular basis preoperatively. Patients were contacted at a minimum of 1 year postoperatively and surveyed about yoga participation. Results: A total of 149 patients who underwent distal radius volar plating were surveyed. Thirty-one patients (32 procedures, 20.8% of surveyed patients) participated in yoga on a regular basis preoperatively. Overall, 90.3% returned to yoga in some capacity. Mean times to return to yoga in any capacity, with weight-bearing, and in a "steady state" were 5.7, 7.4, and 10.0 months, respectively. Of patients who resumed yoga, 65.5% returned to the same or better level of yoga. Satisfaction with participation in yoga was 8.9 (out of 10). Conclusions: We found a relatively high yoga participation rate in patients undergoing distal radius fracture fixation, suggesting the need to be able to effectively counsel these patients. Our results demonstrate a high rate of return to yoga, although approximately one-third of patients experienced a decreased level of participation. Surgeons can use this information to set appropriate expectations.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging analysis of attention to one's heartbeat.

OBJECTIVES: The convergence of a neural system for monitoring external stimuli with mechanisms that process somatic information leads to the hypothesis that the anterior parietal cortex may mediate attention to a specific internal visceral signal. METHODS: We measured regional brain activity through functional magnetic resonance imaging and directed subjects (6 men and 11 women) to attend to their own heartbeat, and to a heartbeat played on an external tape. RESULTS: Statistical parametric brain mapping revealed the importance of right (nondominant) parietal cortex to directing attention internally to one's visceral state and focusing on a specific body signal. CONCLUSIONS: The parietal activation may be taking advantage of monitoring skills typically utilized for vigilance to the external environment, in addition to working as a higher-level recognition system for signals emerging from the viscera. The finding suggests that the parietal cortex plays a central role in an interoceptive attention system that monitors bodily states.