Tag Archives: Randomized Controlled Trials

Nasal intubation improves feeding outcomes

The title of the post sneakily did not mention that I am referring to a study in a specific subgroup of babies, the paper is a report of an RCT in newborn infants who had heart surgery. Yildirim MI, et … Continue reading

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Vitamin A for prevention of lung disease in the preterm

Previous studies have shown that vitamin A supplementation can reduce the frequency of BPD, but the practice has not become widespread. In part, I think, it is because repeated intramuscular injections of vitamin A are the route that has been … Continue reading

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PAS report 2024: Clinical Trials part 2

The NeoGluCO trial This trial was a modestly sized RCT of low dose diazoxide for treatment of persistent or severe hypoglycaemia in newborn infants of at least 35 weeks gestation. I say “modestly sized” as a descriptor, not a criticism, … Continue reading

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PAS report 2024: Clinical Trials part 1.

As usual the PAS meeting was packed with neonatology. The App was even worse than last year, crashing frequently on many peoples’ phones. It was completely useless for the posters, as they were listed by number, and the different sessions … Continue reading

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When you can see what you are doing, you can see what you have done: Video-Laryngoscopy in the newborn

I have been increasingly using video laryngoscopy in my practice, both when I myself perform the intubation, and when I am supervising a resident or other trainee. I usually ask them to use a VL when it is a nurse … Continue reading

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How should we pasteurize donor breast milk?

The standard method of pasteurization of donor breast milk, and I believe the only method approved by HMBANA (the human milk banking association of north america), is similar to what Louis Pasteur himself came up with a couple of centuries … Continue reading

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Oxygen is toxic in older kids too!

A new large RCT from PICUs in the UK randomly compared 2 saturation target ranges, 88-92 and >94%. (Peters MJ, et al. Conservative versus liberal oxygenation targets in critically ill children (Oxy-PICU): a UK multicentre, open, parallel-group, randomised clinical trial. … Continue reading

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Donor human milk, not toxic after all!

It was fairly recently that I deconstructed a truly terrible database analysis which claimed that neonatal mortality was dramatically increased among very preterm infants who received mother’s own milk (MoM) and donor human milk (DHM), without any formula or fortifier, … Continue reading

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Is there any indication to close the PDA?

Yet another trial of PDA treatment and attempted closure with a null result. Baby-OSCAR was a UK multi-center masked RCT of ibuprofen treatment of 23 to <29 week infants who were screened with echocardiogram within the first 72 hours of … Continue reading

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Time to open the DOOR

I have written many times about the problems with classical composite outcomes in neonatal research. “Death or BPD”, “death or NDI”, or sometimes “death or NEC or Sepsis or BPD or severe IVH” have been used as a way of … Continue reading

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