Giamarellos‐Bourboulis 2008.

Methods	Design: randomised, placebo‐controlled, parallel‐group trial
Participants	Number assigned: 200 adults and elderly (macrolide n = 100, placebo n = 100) Age in years (mean ± SD): macrolide: 58.4 ± 20.7, placebo: 58.4 ± 17.4 Setting: secondary care
Interventions	Indication: sepsis associated with ventilator‐associated pneumonia Type of macrolide: clarithromycin Route: intravenous Dose per day: 1000 mg Duration of treatment: 3 days Total treatment dose: 3000 mg
Outcomes	Adverse events stated as an outcome in trial registration/protocol/paper: no Adverse events ascertainment: clinical examination (lab tests, ECG) Adverse events: data reported Antimicrobial resistance: not reported Death: data reported
Funding sources	Study supported by Abbott Laboratories. No information about their role in the study
Notes	Concomitant medication: yes
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Low risk	The sequence was generated by an independent biostatistician and stratified by study site.
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Low risk	Central allocation
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Identical‐appearing placebo
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Blinding of staff and participants
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	None lost to follow‐up. Report on reasons for discontinuation
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	Adverse events not stated as an outcome. Only serious adverse events reported; info on QTc interval not presented even though ECG was performed.
Other bias	Low risk	None were identified.