| Methods |
Mainly unclear: states only "double blind randomized study" without giving further details of design |
| Participants |
54 children, age 6‐14, presenting for tonsillectomy; no data relating to age or gender, but states that there were no statistically significant differences between study arms. Divided into equal groups; no exclusion criteria given |
| Interventions |
Clonidine 4 μg/kg versus midazolam 0.5 mg/kg |
| Outcomes |
Time to first analgesia postoperatively, in minutes |
| Notes |
Also states that there was no difference in morphine use between groups and no clinically significant episodes of hypotension or bradycardia, but that the mean intraoperative blood pressure was lower in the clonidine group; however, no data were presented for any of these outcomes |
| Risk of bias |
| Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) |
Unclear risk |
States only "double‐blind randomized study" without giving methods for achieving this |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) |
Unclear risk |
Not stated |
| Blinding (performance bias and detection bias)
All outcomes |
Unclear risk |
See "Random sequence generation". |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias)
All outcomes |
Unclear risk |
No data on excluded/lost data |
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) |
High risk |
Time to first analgesia is not explicitly stated as an outcome in the Methods section; however, the Methods section does not refer to any intended outcomes relevant to this meta‐analysis |
| Other bias |
Unclear risk |
States no statistically significant difference in age and gender between groups, but no details of this or other baseline characteristics given |
