Author Archives: Keith Barrington

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About Keith Barrington

I am a neonatologist and clinical researcher at Sainte Justine University Health Center in Montréal

A vaccine to prevent prematurity?

Posted on 23 October 2026 by Keith Barrington

Reducing the incidence of prematurity is a goal that we have had little success with. The incidence differs greatly around the world, which leads me to think that there are probably underlying mechanisms that could be attacked to reduce the … Continue reading →

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Probiotics in the extremely preterm. Risks and benefits

Posted on 22 October 2026 by Keith Barrington

Many publications and some guidelines about the use of probiotics for NEC prevention in the preterm make the claim that the evidence is more reliable for the moderately preterm than for the extreme preterm. Many of the RCTs have not … Continue reading →

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Probiotics, risk-benefit ratio

Posted on 20 October 2026 by Keith Barrington

Many of you will know that I have been convinced for some time that probiotics can reduce the frequency of NEC. Once the data became strong enough, and safety seemed to be assured, we were, I think, the first Canadian … Continue reading →

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Steroid drops for retinopathy?

Posted on 11 August 2026 by Keith Barrington

A just published, modestly sized, multicentre randomized masked trial from Sweden has investigated the efficacy of dexamethasone eyedrops to prevent the progression of pre-threshold RoP. Infants born before 30 weeks’ gestational age (GA) were eligible if they had prethreshold RoP, … Continue reading →

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Study Design: Hierarchical Composite Outcomes

Posted on 7 August 2026 by Keith Barrington

As frequent readers of the blog will know, there are major concerns about using the classical dichotomous composite outcomes for trials. One of the outcomes included is usually death, as it “competes” with many other outcomes, and the other components … Continue reading →

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Not neonatology. Trip to Costa Rica

Posted on 6 August 2026 by Keith Barrington

Our family vacation this year was to Costa Rica. One week just Annie and me, then another 2 weeks with Annie’s mother and 2 of our children. Costa Rica has a well-deserved reputation as a destination for holidays with abundant … Continue reading →

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Routine vitamin K prophylaxis. Why are there so many refusals?

Posted on 6 August 2026 by Keith Barrington

This is still a fairly rare phenomenon in my hospital, but it does seem to increasing slightly here, as it is just about everywhere else. The science is settled, transplacental transfer of vitamin K is extremely limited, hepatic stores at … Continue reading →

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Finally, a SMART approach for the PDA?

Posted on 3 July 2026 by Keith Barrington

One of the thorniest topics in neonatology currently. Some experts seem certain that we can define PDAs that benefit from early treatment. In contrast, the recent trials don’t show any clinical benefit in early treated groups compared to controls, and … Continue reading →

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A new standard for NOWS

Posted on 28 April 2026 by Keith Barrington

Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal is a major public health problem in the world. Large numbers of infants born after fetal exposure to opioids experience unpleasant symptoms, requiring non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic intervention. Studies of different approaches for symptom control have the potential … Continue reading →

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Neonatal Research Shorts : March 2026

Posted on 27 March 2026 by Keith Barrington

Pineda R, et al. Language and sound exposure across neonatal intensive care hospitalization and relationships with early outcome. J Perinatol 2026. In this short term outcome study, 64 very preterm infants <29 weeks GA were evaluated at near-term age with … Continue reading →

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