Methods	The pharmacy provided bottles containing placebo or desmopressin (DDAVP) that were identical in appearance. A card drawn at random at the beginning of the operation determined which vial was to be used for the patient. The method used to generate allocation sequences was not described
Participants	83 consecutive patients having open heart surgery were randomly allocated to one of two groups Desmopressin (DDAVP) group: n = 40. Placebo group: n = 43. NB: No patient demographic data were reported.
Interventions	DDAVP group received 0.3 ug/kg of DDAVP diluted in 50 ml of normal saline, given intravenously over 15 minutes after cardiopulmonary bypass had been discontinued, the protamine infused, and the heparin reversal documented by measurement of the activated clotting time. Placebo group received equivalent volumes of normal saline.
Outcomes	Number of patients transfused allogeneic blood (n) Number of patients transfused fresh frozen plasma (n) Number of patients transfused platelets (n) Blood loss (ml) Amount of autotransfusion (ml) Number of patients treated with EACA
Notes	Quality assessment score (Schulz criteria): 4/7 Transfusion protocol not specified.
Risk of bias
Item	Authors’ judgement	Description
Adequate sequence generation?	Unclear	Method of randomisation was not described.
Allocation concealment?	Unclear	B - Unclear
Blinding? All outcomes	Yes	Double blind.