Table 2.

Summary of trial design

Trial	Patient populationa	Number of centres	Surfactant (doseb)	Control	Primary outcome	Duration of follow-up	Funding source
Luchetti, 1998	Severe bronchiolitis	Unclear, probably 1	Poractant – porcine (50 mg/kg single dose)	None	Unclear	PICU discharge	Not reported
Willson, 1999	ARDS/ALI	8	Calfactant – bovine (2,800 mg/m2 every 12 hours for 1–4 doses)	None	Mortality	Hospital discharge	Partial support by surfactant manufacturer
Tibby, 2000	RSV-induced respiratory failure	Unclear, probably 1	Beractant – modified bovine (100 mg/kg every 24 hours for 2 doses)	Air placebo	Indices of gas exchange	Hospital discharge	Not reported
Luchetti, 2002	RSV-induced respiratory failure	6	Poractant – porcine (50 mg/kg dose every 24 hours for 1–2 doses)	Sedation and manual ventilation	Vent days and PICU stay	PICU discharge	Not reported
Moller, 2003	ARDS	19	Bovactant – bovine (100 mg/kg, 1–2 doses within 48 hours)	None	Change in PaO2/FiO2 at 48 hours	30 days	Surfactant manufacturer
Willson, 2005	ARDS/ALI	21	Calfactant – bovine (2,800 mg/m2 – if <10 kg, 105 mg/kg – every 12 hours for 1–2 doses)	Air placebo	Ventilator-free days at day 28	Hospital discharge	Surfactant manufacturer

ALI, acute lung injury; ARDS, acute respiratory distress syndrome; PICU, paediatric intensive care unit; RSV, respiratory syncytial virus. ^aSee Additional file 1 for the complete inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria. ^bDose expressed as mg/kg phospholipids.