Welcome to the new and improved All Things Neonatal! We have graduated to our own domain name and I think you will appreciate the enhancements on this blog.
June 2020 – My Facebook page has moved! If you were a follower of the old site please click the link to find the new one and contribute to the discussion! Facebook as an accompaniment serves as a better means of expanding dialogue on a variety of topics and posts
I am a Neonatologist trained in Winnipeg, Manitoba and Edmonton, Alberta. My current position is Section Head of Neonatology in Manitoba and over my career my interests have meandered from time to time. I have been a past Program Director of Neonatology and Medical Director for a level II Intensive Care Unit prior to relocating to Winnipeg become a Section Head. My current positions also include Co-Director of the Neonatal Telehealth program and assistant Medical Director for the Child Health Transport Program.
We live in the era of social media and that means that the days of turning to Medline and other medical search engines for all the latest information are behind us.
Starting in January 2020 I have added a Parents Corner section which can be found in the menu at the top of the page. The goal of this new section is to help parents understand in plain language the journey of their baby through the NICU.
We live in a global village so to speak and in that spirit I welcome you to my blog which I hope will provide a forum for discussion on topics that are of interest to Neonatologists, trainees, all health care professionals and in some cases parents of those we care for. My intent is to post opinions and analysis on both items from the media and literature that pertain to neonates. While I have many interests, my particular motivation is to find ways to reduce discomfort for the patients that we care for. Whether it is through the use of non-invasive testing or finding a way to improve the patient experience this is where I find myself most energized.
If you like what you see and would like updates to be sent to you as they are published feel free to follow the site by clicking the follow button on the sidebar to the bottom right. You can also follow both my Twitter (@NICU_Musings) and Facebook feeds for additional content and discussion by clicking the additional links found there.
Medical videos can be found on the accompanying YouTube channel. Subscribing to the channel will give you access to new videos as they come up.
Please “share” and “like” to help expand the circle of knowledge. You never know who might be out there with a tidbit of information that might change your practice for the better!
When it comes to ventilation are all volume modes equal?
When I began my career in Neonatology we initially ventilated primarily with pressure limited time cycled modes of ventilation and only supported some of the breaths as in SIMV modes. With time and emerging research a movement to using set volumes came about and in...
Another change to the definition of BPD?
I have written a lot over the years on the topic of BPD. It isn't by chance as it is a condition that Neonatologists have put a lot of weight on. In many ways it is a benchmark that is often the go to condition when comparing one unit to another. When two...
Can we avoid pre-op intubation in some infants with congenital diaphragmatic hernia?
For as long as I can remember I was taught that there is a desperate need to intubate babies with congenital diaphragmatic hernia right after birth and place an NG to suction. The goal of this manouver was to minimize the amount of swallowed air into the GI tract and...
T-piece resuscitation by mask vs binasal prongs. The winner is?
Who doesn't love a good match up?! Supporting neonates in need of resuscitation after delivery has been the subject of many studies over the years. The movement has certainly been to non-invasive support with CPAP or NIPPV but some babies need some degree of support...
How safe are t-piece resuscitators anyway in our smallest patients?
Here in Winnipeg we don't use t-piece resuscitators for any resuscitation. I did use them in my past position in Edmonton and I came to appreciate them for their ease of use. For the majority of infants, setting a PIP and a PEEP and then using your finger to occlude...
Late administration of surfactant linked to better survival than in 1st 2 hours. Really!?
If there is a country that leads this site in terms of mentions it has to be Sweden. This isn't just because I happen to know some Neonatologists from there who are fine people but because of the fantastic research that spills forth from their national registry of...