Gruber 2008.

Methods	Parallel‐group randomized controlled trial, conducted in Hong Kong. Study dates not reported
Participants	50 adults undergoing elective coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). Excluded were patients with LV ejection fraction > 30%, concomitant vascular or aortic surgery, older than 80 years, chronic pulmonary artery disease requiring bronchodilator therapy, significant hepatic disease (alanine aminotransferase or aspartate aminotransferase > 150 U/L), renal failure or history of seizure and stroke
Interventions	Early extubation (within 6 hours using adaptive‐support ventilation) in 23 participants Usual care (after 7 hours with pressure‐regulated volume‐controlled ventilation with auto‐mode) in 25 participants Details of who decided when to extubate were not given in the paper.
Outcomes	Risk of mortality in hospital Time to extubation Length of stay in the ICU Risk of stroke Risk of major bleeding Risk of tracheal reintubation Risk of acute renal failure (defined as new requirement for renal replacement)
Notes	Anaesthesia (low‐dose fentanyl and midazolam, with propofol or sevoflurane) in both groups was the same. Details of weaning protocol were given in the paper. Same weaning protocol was given to both groups, but timing was different. Power calculation was performed. Funding source was the department. Details of any declarations of conflict of interest among study authors were not provided.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Low risk	Randomization sequence was computer‐generated.
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	No details given
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes	High risk	"This was an unblinded randomized controlled trial"
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Reasons for withdrawal given
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	All outcomes collected were reported.
Other bias	Low risk	Participant demographics, anaesthesia and surgical procedures were similar between groups. However, participants in the intervention group had lower LVEF and higher EuroSCORE compared with participants in the control group.