Monthly Archives: October 2018

Active intervention at 22 weeks gestation, is it futile?

Posted on 29 October 2018 by Keith Barrington

In order to respond to the question posed in the title we need first to agree on what “futile” means. It could mean “it never works” or, “it can work but the ultimate result is so bad that it isn’t … Continue reading →

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Prebiotics and preterms and probiotics.

Posted on 25 October 2018 by Keith Barrington

A selection of recent publications, regarding the issues in the title, that I find interesting and which seem to tell a consistent story. From Nick Embleton’s group the following interesting study (Stewart CJ, et al. Longitudinal development of the gut … Continue reading →

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Supporting breast feeding : don’t dump the domperidone.

Posted on 24 October 2018 by Keith Barrington

Breast is best, as I say repeatedly, and mother’s breast milk is the best of the lot; we should do all we can that is effective and safe to ensure that mothers of preterm babies can supply adequate milk for … Continue reading →

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Not neonatology: Snow Goose migration

Posted on 23 October 2018 by Keith Barrington

Every year at least 1 million Snow Geese migrate from the Canadian arctic tundra towards the Carolinas. Many of them stop in Quebec especially around the region of Cap Tourmente, not far from Quebec city. There they eat the rhizomes … Continue reading →

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Clunk/click every hip

Posted on 23 October 2018 by Keith Barrington

For those of you who are not of a certain age, and brought up in England, that title will not mean very much. When seat belts in cars were first made compulsory in the UK there was a widely quoted … Continue reading →

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Moral Distress in the NICU, a webinar.

Posted on 22 October 2018 by Keith Barrington

Trisha Prentice is a neonatologist in Melbourne who has been working with Annie Janvier and Peter Davis examining the occurrence and causes of moral distress in the NICU. They have already published a systematic review of the subject (Prentice T, … Continue reading →

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All that pneumatoses is not NEC

Posted on 17 October 2018 by Keith Barrington

OK, I know pneumatose is not a verb, but I thought it was a cute title. What is NEC, anyway? Necrotizing Enterocolitis, of course, you might reply. But it’s not as simple as that. The very preterm baby who deteriorates … Continue reading →

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Richard Ehrenkranz 1946-2018

Posted on 10 October 2018 by Keith Barrington

I am very fortunate in many ways in my life, including having met, and become friends with, many of the greats of neonatology. One of the those greats was Richard Ehrenkranz, a neonatologist who spent most of his professional life … Continue reading →

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Mother’s milk is best, but how best to use it?

Posted on 4 October 2018 by Keith Barrington

A survey of practices in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (the German speaking part) demonstrates the range of practices for handling mother’s own breast milk in very preterm babies. Klotz D, et al. Handling of Breast Milk by Neonatal Units: Large … Continue reading →

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Surfactant by nebulisation

Posted on 4 October 2018 by Keith Barrington

After the PAS meeting I blogged about a presented abstract of nebulized lucinactant, which showed a possible reduction in needing intubation among babies on CPAP who received the surfactant, compared to controls. A new publication from Perth (Minocchieri S, et … Continue reading →

Posted in Neonatal Research | Tagged , , | 6 Comments