Monthly Archives: November 2012

Erythromycin: not another toxic placebo!

Posted on 29 November 2012 by Keith Barrington

Erythromycin is an antibiotic. This much is true. It is active against mycoplasma and against ureaplasmas, but is very poor at actually eradicating them. It also stimulates motilin receptors in the bowel, that is why it increases bowel activity, and … Continue reading →

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More about reflux: anti-acid medications may also be toxic placebos

Posted on 28 November 2012 by Keith Barrington

While I am still finalizing my long overdue chapter on gastro-esophageal reflux (sorry Sanjay if you are reading this, it is on its way, honestly) I have been reviewing the data on acid blockade as a potential treatment. Probably the … Continue reading →

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Home again

Posted on 26 November 2012 by Keith Barrington

Back from the trip to Australia, still a bit frazzled.. but we had a great time, the conference was excellent, the hospitality even better, thanks to Peter (and Noni), Lex, Jennifer and Niki. I have put my presentations on this … Continue reading →

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Weekly updates 15

Posted on 26 November 2012 by Keith Barrington

Lacey DJ, Stolfi A, Pilati LE: Effects of hyperbaric oxygen on motor function in children with cerebral palsy. Annals of Neurology 2012  Hyperbaric oxygen really, really doesn’t work for treating cerebral palsy. This is the second good trial of hyperbaric … Continue reading →

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NICE! Or mostly so… treatment of early onset neonatal infection

Posted on 20 November 2012 by Keith Barrington

The National Institute of Clinical Excellence in the UK has been a real boon to the NHS, despite attempts to limits its influence by the pharmaceutical companies, the explicit evaluation of risks and benefits of various interventions allows appropriate use … Continue reading →

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The Politics of Probiotics

Posted on 15 November 2012 by Keith Barrington

Annie Janvier and John Lantos and I have just published a ‘different view’ article in Acta Paediatrica, which has just appeared on-line. For various reasons we were asked to remove the references, so I list the references that we based … Continue reading →

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Premedication for Intubation

Posted on 13 November 2012 by Keith Barrington

There are several studies of what premedication should be used for intubation of the newborn. An analgesic or anesthetic agent should be given in to reduce pain, which also reduces the adverse physiologic consequences of the intubation. Several studies of … Continue reading →

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Long term outcomes to adolescence of extremely low birth weight babies

Posted on 12 November 2012 by Keith Barrington

Litt JS, Taylor HG, Margevicius S, Schluchter M, Andreias L, Hack M: Academic achievement of adolescents born with extremely low birth weight. Acta Paediatrica 2012. A large cohort of babies born in the mid 90’s (n over 200) was followed … Continue reading →

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Weekly Updates #14

Posted on 12 November 2012 by Keith Barrington

Jiang ZD, Ping LL, Chen C, Wilkinson AR: Brainstem auditory response findings in preterm infants after necrotizing enterocolitis. Acta Paediatrica 2012, 101(12):e531-e534. Auditory brainstem response latencies were longer in preterm infants who had had NEC (when they reached term) compared … Continue reading →

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Dressing Down

Posted on 9 November 2012 by Keith Barrington

This is an innovative Randomized Controlled Trial. Hofmann J, Zotter H, Kerbl R: How to dress as a paediatrician? Acta Paediatrica 2012, 101(12):1260-1264. “One hundred and seven children and 72 parents were visited by a paediatrician randomly wearing one of … Continue reading →

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