Tag Archives: Randomized Controlled Trials

Funny shaped heads? You can take the helmet off now.

Posted on 13 May 2014 by Keith Barrington

I often see kids around my hospital wearing orthotic helmets, designed to make their heads more round (some of them ex-preterms), and I often wondered if they really work. A new RCT from the Netherlands shows no effect . Renske MvW, Leo … Continue reading →

Posted in Neonatal Research | Tagged | Leave a comment

Prophylactic fluconazole works; but we shouldn’t use it?

Posted on 6 May 2014 by Keith Barrington

A new high quality multicenter RCT examined the effects of fluconazole prophylaxis in about 360 very tiny babies (VTB), that is they weighed less than 750g at birth. They were enrolled in the first 5 days of life to fluconazole … Continue reading →

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

High Frequency Ventilation and long term pulmonary outcomes

Posted on 6 May 2014 by Keith Barrington

The UK Oscillation study (UKOS) was a large multicenter trial in the UK of high-frequency compared to conventional ventilation; 800 babies <29 weeks gestation were randomized, if they were intubated from birth and were less than 1 hour old, to … Continue reading →

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

High Flow Nasal Cannulae: poor man’s CPAP?

Posted on 1 May 2014 by Keith Barrington

The title is how I sometimes refer to HFNC, but one could ask whether that is all there is to high flow, is it just another way to deliver CPAP, but with no control, or knowledge, of the pressure delivered? … Continue reading →

Posted in Neonatal Research | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Something else that doesn’t work in sepsis; albumin

Posted on 21 April 2014 by Keith Barrington

Another multi-center RCT in adults with severe sepsis or septic shock with a negative result. This time 1800 adults in 100 ICUs in Italy were randomized. Fluid boluses were either crystalloid or 20% albumin and crystalloid. Blood pressure was somewhat … Continue reading →

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

Bloody Placentas

Posted on 21 April 2014 by Keith Barrington

No, literally. There is now quite good evidence of the advantages of delayed cord clamping in the term infant, with most particularly an improvement in iron stores in the baby that has lasting effects during the first year of life. … Continue reading →

Posted in Neonatal Research | Tagged | Leave a comment

Resuscitating preterm infants: how many O’s

Posted on 21 April 2014 by Keith Barrington

Very often in neonatology (and in life) we have to make a decision based on inadequate data. For example, when resuscitating a very preterm baby you have to decide where to set the starting FiO2, even if there are no … Continue reading →

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

More from SUPPORT, not research governance and consent this time!

Posted on 21 April 2014 by Keith Barrington

One of the difficulties in performing neonatal research is how to determine the most clinically appropriate outcomes. Bronchopulmonary dysplasia is often used as a dichotomous outcome variable, partly to facilitate the design of research, including combining it with other competing outcomes, … Continue reading →

Posted in Neonatal Research | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Zinc supplementation: should we be galvanized into action?

Posted on 10 April 2014 by Keith Barrington

I wasn’t sure how many non native-English speakers would get that joke, and jokes are rarely improved by explaining them, so if you don’t get it, just keep on reading. Terrin G, Berni Canani R, Passariello A, Messina F, Conti … Continue reading →

Posted in Neonatal Research | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Oxygen, transfusions, and NEC

Posted on 31 March 2014 by Keith Barrington

What causes NEC! The answer is ‘who knows?’, or perhaps a better one would be ‘its complicated…’ You probably need an immature gut, gut mucosal injury, inflammation and cytokine release, and an abnormal microbiome, all of which probably interact in … Continue reading →

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