Biran 2011.

Methods	RCT Painful intervention: venipuncture Study location: NICUs at Hôpital Armand Trousseau, Paris, France and Centre Hospitalier de Meaux, Meaux, France Study period: July to September 2007
Participants	76 preterm infants, mean (SD) PMA: sucrose group (n = 37): 32.6 (2.33) weeks; sucrose + EMLA group: (n = 39): 32.3 (2.01) weeks
Interventions	Sucrose group: 0.5 mL 30% sucrose solution orally and placebo cream Sucrose + EMLA group: 0.5 mL 30% sucrose solution orally and EMLA cream on the skin
Outcomes	DAN scale, PIPP score
Notes	Discussed adverse effects observed
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Low risk	Randomization done in advance in blocks of 8 using a random number table
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Low risk	Used opaque, sealed and sequentially numbered envelopes
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Participants and personnel blinded
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Outcome assessors blinded
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Outcomes not reported for 4 infants because of problems with video recording
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	The study protocol was not available to us so we could not judge whether there were any deviations from it
Other bias	Low risk	Appears free of other bias