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

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 →

Posted in Neonatal Research | Tagged , | 2 Comments

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 →

Posted in Neonatal Research | 2 Comments

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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Steroids and BPD, what do we really know?

Posted on 26 March 2026 by Keith Barrington

My first foray into systematic review and meta-analysis was about 25 years ago with this article Barrington KJ. The adverse neuro-developmental effects of postnatal steroids in the preterm infant: a systematic review of RCTs. BMC Pediatr. 2001;1:1. As you can … Continue reading →

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Registration of clinical trials.

Posted on 20 March 2026 by Keith Barrington

Since 2005 the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors has required that a condition of publication of a prospective controlled trial is that it should be registered in an accessible database prior to starting the trial. It is understandable that … Continue reading →

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Neonatal Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, what is it and how should we treat it?

Posted on 20 March 2026 by Keith Barrington

ARDS is a fairly common problem in the adult and the paediatric ICU; following trauma, or systemic sepsis, or other extrapulmonary insults, usually inflammatory in nature, or as a complication of direct pulmonary insults, such as pneumonia or aspiration of … Continue reading →

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Neonatal Research Shorts : February 2026

Posted on 17 March 2026 by Keith Barrington

Dereymaeker A, et al. Neonatal sleep physiology and early executive functioning in preterm children. Pediatr Res. 2026. In this observational study, the authors recorded sleep architecture overnight shortly prior to discharge of 76 preterm infants, averaging 30 weeks GA. The … Continue reading →

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