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

Slow Flow

Posted on 22 January 2013 by Keith Barrington

I have worked in a couple of NICUs in the past where infants were placed on low flow room air by nasal cannulae. The idea, I was told, was that a bit of flow would help the babies to inhale. … Continue reading →

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Supporting oxygen limits

Posted on 19 January 2013 by Keith Barrington

The initial results of the SUPPORT trial examining the effects of different oxygen limits stopped a lot of us in our tracks. We started these trials because most of us thought that aiming for lower oxygen saturation targets would reduce … Continue reading →

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Transplanting Poo

Posted on 18 January 2013 by Keith Barrington

That’s right, Poo not Pooh; this post is not an AA Milne tribute. The smallest trial in a while at the PNEJM (van Nood E, Vrieze A, Nieuwdorp M, Fuentes S, Zoetendal EG, de Vos WM, Visser CE, Kuijper EJ, … Continue reading →

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Testing treatments

Posted on 14 January 2013 by Keith Barrington

Imogen Evans, Hazel Thornton, Iain Chalmers, and Paul Glasziou have written a great book about why we need to do clinical trials, with introductory chapters about how they should be done. The second edition of their book is available free … Continue reading →

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Weekly Updates #20

Posted on 11 January 2013 by Keith Barrington

My endnote database got corrupted partway through the week, I nearly had a “crise de nerfs” and it took most of a day to put right… the final solution wasn’t that difficult, but I tried about 15 other things first. … Continue reading →

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Let it flow?

Posted on 10 January 2013 by Keith Barrington

There are now accumulating a few trials of the use of high flow nasal cannulae (HFNC) as a means of respiratory support in the newborn Collins CL, Holberton JR, Barfield C, Davis PG: A randomized controlled trial to compare heated … Continue reading →

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How do Probiotics and Breast Milk prevent NEC?

Posted on 10 January 2013 by Keith Barrington

The question of the mechanism of action of probiotics and the manner in which breast milk reduces the incidence of NEC are important if we are to figure out for the future how to advance. There are specific components of … Continue reading →

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Using YouTube to save babies’ lives

Posted on 8 January 2013 by Keith Barrington

A great series of videos produced by the global health media project are designed to help health care workers diagnose and treat neonatal health problems. I haven’t yet watched them all, but the evaluation of respiratory problems video, and the … Continue reading →

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Weekly Updates #19

Posted on 4 January 2013 by Keith Barrington

Scattolin S, Gaio P, Betto M, Palatron S, De Terlizzi F, Intini F, Visintin G, Verlato G: Parenteral amino acid intakes: Possible influences of higher intakes on growth and bone status in preterm infants. J Perinatol 2013, 33(1):33-39. This was … Continue reading →

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Donor Breast Milk Banking, and the effects on maternal milk use and production

Posted on 3 January 2013 by Keith Barrington

Human breast milk is the best food for human babies. Although the evidence for some of the benefits is not as sound as I would like, I think it is clear that the benefits for preterm infants are substantial. Hence … Continue reading →

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