Tag Archives: Randomized Controlled Trials

Magnesium for brain protection and longer term outcomes.

Posted on 6 November 2014 by Keith Barrington

Two new articles describing the longer term follow up (to school age) of antenatal magnesium, when used for brain protection. 1. Doyle LW, Anderson PJ, Haslam R, Lee KJ, Crowther C, Australasian Collaborative Trial of Magnesium Sulphate Study G. School-age … Continue reading →

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What do parents of twins (and the twins) think about randomizing multiples

Posted on 31 October 2014 by Keith Barrington

There has been some controversy recently about how we should randomize twins (and triplets or more) in neonatal trials. The question being whether randomizing the babies independently or randomizing them as a group is preferable. Those who wish to randomize … Continue reading →

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Appropriate outcomes for neonatal research

Posted on 14 October 2014 by Keith Barrington

Neil Marlow has published a thoughtful, and thought provoking, article to address the issue outlined in the title. What are the appropriate outcomes when designing neonatal research studies? It has become almost a rule, that a multi-center trial of an … Continue reading →

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Probiotics: so what about those ELBW babies?

Posted on 24 September 2014 by Keith Barrington

After a comment to my previous post about probiotics, I wanted to clarify what I said about the ELBW baby, that is, the newborn with a birth weight below 1001 grams. It is true that there are few studies that … Continue reading →

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The Time for a Confirmative Necrotizing Enterocolitis Probiotics Prevention Trial in the Extremely Low Birth Weight Infant in North America Is Well Past

Posted on 23 September 2014 by Keith Barrington

What on earth are these people waiting for? A number of authors from Toronto and elsewhere have written a ridiculous editorial (entitled ‘The Time for a Confirmative Necrotizing Enterocolitis Probiotics Prevention Trial in the Extremely Low Birth Weight Infant in … Continue reading →

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Should we all be wearing gloves? Every time we touch a baby?

Posted on 12 August 2014 by Keith Barrington

Two new articles over the summer suggest that the answer to that question may well be yes. The first is the best quality of the studies, an RCT in a single center in the USA. Kaufman DA, Blackman A, Conaway MR, Sinkin … Continue reading →

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What to give before intubation

Posted on 9 June 2014 by Keith Barrington

The blog has been quiet recently, for various personal and professional reasons, but I will be getting back into the groove. I got really concerned over the last couple of days, my usually reliable personal PubNeoMed in my brain told … Continue reading →

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New Lactoferrin Data

Posted on 29 May 2014 by Keith Barrington

Two new articles addressing effects of lactoferrin. Both used bovine lactoferrin (bLF), one was in humans, the other in piglets. In case you haven’t been following closely, lactoferrin is an iron transport protein that has multiple anti-infective properties, against bacteria, … Continue reading →

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Probiotics in preterm infants: not just for NEC prevention any more

Posted on 20 May 2014 by Keith Barrington

A new RCT in more mature preterm infants 32 to 37 weeks compared the incidence of viral respiratory infections during the first year of life between infants who received prebiotics (galacto-oligosaccharide and polydextrose) probiotics (lactobacillus rhamnosus) or placebo between the … Continue reading →

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Poietins for the brain?

Posted on 14 May 2014 by Keith Barrington

Ohls RK, Kamath-Rayne BD, Christensen RD, Wiedmeier SE, Rosenberg A, Fuller J, et al. Cognitive Outcomes of Preterm Infants Randomized to Darbepoetin, Erythropoietin, or Placebo. Pediatrics. 2014. I’ve written about this trial before, a smallish 3 arm trial of erythropoietin, … Continue reading →

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