Tag Archives: Randomized Controlled Trials

Probiotics work, they really, really, work! (And they are safe)

Posted on 22 November 2013 by Keith Barrington

The Proprems study that I have referred to a couple of times before has now been published. This was a multicenter RCT of a probiotic preparation in 1100 very preterm infants less than 1500 grams and less than 32 weeks. … Continue reading →

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GE Reflux… again

Posted on 22 November 2013 by Keith Barrington

Esomeprazole is one of the Proton pump inhibitors that is quite effective at reducing gastric acid production. This RCT of 51 infants (preterms to 1 month of age) randomized babies that had symptoms that were interpreted as being due to … Continue reading →

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Personalized Medicine in the NICU

Posted on 20 November 2013 by Keith Barrington

An article I wrote, with that title, as an open peer commentary in the American Journal of Bioethics has just appeared on-line. The first 50 people to click on the link at the bottom of this post below can get a free full … Continue reading →

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Palivizumab for late preterm infants, can we afford it?

Posted on 4 November 2013 by Keith Barrington

It is quite clear that palivizumab reduces the incidence of RSV disease, and probably also the severity, among those who still get it nevertheless. It is just as clear that it is extremely expensive. If RSV is likely to make … Continue reading →

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Registry Trials

Posted on 30 October 2013 by Keith Barrington

The latest PNEJM reports a large trial in adults (over 7000 patients randomized) in a very tasty trial, known as TASTE (Thrombus Aspiration in ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction in Scandinavia). The trial was among patients who were undergoing coronary angiography and … Continue reading →

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Reducing BPD by Avoiding Intubation

Posted on 29 October 2013 by Keith Barrington

Sometimes more than one article gets published almost simultaneously on the same topic, sometimes with similar methodology. Two systematic reviews of the effects of trying to avoid or curtail endotracheal intubation in order to protect the lungs have just been … Continue reading →

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How to deliver CPAP

Posted on 25 October 2013 by Keith Barrington

Two almost simultaneous articles, one from the Melbourne group. One from Colm O’Donnell in Dublin who has worked with the Melbourne group in the past Kamlin COF, Schilleman K, Dawson JA, Lopriore E, Donath SM, Schmölzer GM, Walther FJ, Davis … Continue reading →

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More Pain

Posted on 25 October 2013 by Keith Barrington

One comment on a previous post was about pain control for, among other things, nasogastric tube insertion. Lo and behold a new publication (Ravishankar A, Thawani R, Dewan P, Das S, Kashyap A, Batra P, Faridi MMA: Oral dextrose for … Continue reading →

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Pain research in the newborn, what is ethical?

Posted on 21 October 2013 by Keith Barrington

Annie Janvier’s comment on my recent post made we wonder what are the ethical limits of pain research in the newborn. Let me start with an adult analogy, if a researcher wanted to investigate the efficacy of a new analgesic … Continue reading →

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Pain hurts

Posted on 21 October 2013 by Keith Barrington

In 2010 a paper published in the Lancet called into question the use of sucrose as an analgesic for heelsticks. (I will use the US term as I think most people understand that it refers to lancing the heel of … Continue reading →

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