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

Public Citizen are a public danger: part 1

Posted on 24 August 2013 by Keith Barrington

They are at it again. The people in the Public Citizen health research group don’t understand evidence based practice, they don’t understand clinical research and they don’t understand neonatology. Which doesn’t stop them from making a fuss about high quality … Continue reading →

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More about SUPPORT, but this time not the consent forms

Posted on 23 August 2013 by Keith Barrington

The main, surprising, finding of SUPPORT, now confirmed by the other oxygen trials, is that aiming for O2 saturations that were a little lower led to higher mortality. The big question is why? Having a saturation of 85% to 90% … Continue reading →

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Who should get surfactant?

Posted on 23 August 2013 by Keith Barrington

I think the literature is clear, if you need surfactant, the earlier you get it the better. If you don’t need surfactant you are better off never being intubated. So how do we decide? Current management protocols usually put babies … Continue reading →

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Susceptibility to Sepsis

Posted on 20 August 2013 by Keith Barrington

It looks like those Toll-like receptors may indeed be important. I included a review article in a previous Neonatal Updates, which was nice introduction to these transmembrane receptors that are important in immune responses. A new article suggests that variants … Continue reading →

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Teaching Well

Posted on 19 August 2013 by Keith Barrington

If you are a clinical teacher, and you have access to the Lancet, you should read this Reilly BM: Inconvenient truths about effective clinical teaching. The Lancet, 370(9588):705-711. Great insights, and good guidance for teachers.  

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End of Life, at Birth

Posted on 19 August 2013 by Keith Barrington

An Op-Ed piece in the NY Times a couple of weeks ago had that title. I was rather disappointed by the piece, written by an experienced neonatologist; now I suppose for a piece written for the NY Times the fact … Continue reading →

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Nutritional Catch-Up

Posted on 19 August 2013 by Keith Barrington

This is my attempt to catch up with some interesting publications from the last few weeks, about nutritional interventions and necrotizing enterocolitis. Karagol BS, Zenciroglu A, Okumus N, Polin RA: Randomized controlled trial of slow vs rapid enteral feeding advancements … Continue reading →

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On the Radio

Posted on 15 August 2013 by Keith Barrington

I was interviewed for an edition of the NPR Radiolab program a couple of months ago. I have only just had the chance to listen to the program, (called ’23 weeks and 6 days’) and I think the emission was … Continue reading →

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Don’t text and drive

Posted on 15 August 2013 by Keith Barrington

That might seem self-evident, but texting while driving has become a major cause of road traffic collisions, and other major incidents, involving pedestrians and others. AT&T have sponsored a new documentary movie (directed by Werner Herzog), which you can see … Continue reading →

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Long term outcomes, Quality of Life.

Posted on 15 August 2013 by Keith Barrington

I heard a presentation of this excellent study when I was in Melbourne last year, and have been waiting for it to be available in print. There are now about 30 studies of quality of life in subjects who were … Continue reading →

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