Author Archives: Keith Barrington

Unknown's avatar

About Keith Barrington

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

Weaning from CPAP in preterm babies

Posted on 23 May 2012 by Keith Barrington

There have been very few studies of how to wean babies from CPAP, even though it is something we do all the time. A recent tendency, which seems to have arisen without any supportive data, and which never made much sense … Continue reading →

Posted in Neonatal Research | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Encephalopathy and induced hypothermia

Posted on 22 May 2012 by Keith Barrington

The widespread use of therapeutic hypothermia for infants with encephalopathy has raised several questions. Prior to this new(ish) technique, the neurological examination of the infant was thought to have a reasonably good predictive accuracy for long term outcomes. Infants who were never … Continue reading →

Posted in Neonatal Research | Tagged | Leave a comment

Assisted Reproduction and Neonatology

Posted on 21 May 2012 by Keith Barrington

Assisted Reproductive Technologies have a number of impacts on Neonatology. By far the most important is the increased risk of prematurity due to multiple gestation. In the USA and Canada (outside of Quebec) the frequency of multiple gestation among IVF … Continue reading →

Posted in Neonatal Research | Leave a comment

Hypocapnia in asphyxiated infants

Posted on 17 May 2012 by Keith Barrington

Some of my posts are not necessarily going to be about very new publications, sometimes a clinical event or question stimulates me to review the literature, and I will share my findings with the readers. Spontaneous hypocapnia is not rare … Continue reading →

Posted in Neonatal Research | Tagged | Leave a comment

Predicting outcomes in extremely preterm infants

Posted on 15 May 2012 by Keith Barrington

Extremely preterm infants (less than 28 weeks gestation) have an increased risk of adverse neurological or developmental outcomes. A new publication from the University of Chicago emphasizes a feature that has been shown before. That among survivors, there is little difference in … Continue reading →

Posted in Neonatal Research | Tagged | Leave a comment

Hand washing

Posted on 14 May 2012 by Keith Barrington

Sometimes our discussion of infection control become somewhat theoretical, we talk about frequencies and methodologies. Here are a sequence of images that are worth a thousand words. the first 2 are from a publication in the New England Journal of … Continue reading →

Posted in Neonatal Research | Tagged | Leave a comment

Nutrition of very preterm babies

Posted on 11 May 2012 by Keith Barrington

There is a ‘growing’ feeling that we don’t give enough protein to our preterm infants, especially during the enteral phases of nutrition. Fortified maternal breast milk use is associated with lower overall rates of weight gain, despite all its benefits. … Continue reading →

Posted in Neonatal Research | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Pain relief for intramuscular injections

Posted on 10 May 2012 by Keith Barrington

Sometimes we can’t avoid giving an IM injection, even though they are painful. Some vaccines should be given IM, and the routine needle in the thigh of every baby for vitamin K is a rite of passage, that has become standard everywhere. … Continue reading →

Posted in Neonatal Research | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The microbiome of the preterm infant, how it relates to NEC

Posted on 10 May 2012 by Keith Barrington

The intestinal flora of the preterm infant and how it relates to NEC. The normal pattern of colonization of the intestine is disturbed by: prematurity; by caesarian delivery; by antibiotics; and by feeding formula rather than breast milk. The abnormal … Continue reading →

Posted in Neonatal Research | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Pain relief and retinopathy screening, part 2.

Posted on 9 May 2012 by Keith Barrington

My good friend Gene Dempsey (a neonatologist and clinical researcher in Cork) reminded me of their trial published in 2010, and suggested that the title of my previous post may be misleading. I guess I really don’t want readers to think that … Continue reading →

Posted in Neonatal Research | Tagged , , | Leave a comment