Lista 2009.

Methods	Study design: randomized controlled prospective clinical trial Setting: single‐center study in Milan, Italy Duration of study: 2007‐2008
Participants	Inclusion criteria: infants from 28‐34 weeks' gestational age with moderate RDS, defined in the first hour of life as PO2 ratio of 0.3‐0.35 and signs on chest x‐ray Exclusion criteria: infants with lethal congenital anomalies, infants requiring muscle relaxants, severe intraventricular hemorrhage, chorioamnionitis, sepsis, or suspected infection Number randomized: 40 infants total (gender not reported)
Interventions	Interventions were performed with the Infant Flow CPAP and Infant Flow SiPAP ventilators (Viasys Health Care, Conshohocken, PA, USA) via binasal prongs. NCPAP (n = 20) was administered at 6 cmH2O, and NIPPV (n = 20) at a lower CPAP level of 4.5 cmH2O and an upper CPAP level of 8 cmH2O with an initial rate of 30 breaths per minute. NIPPV was synchronized.
Outcomes	Primary outcome: cytokine levels (IL‐6, IL‐8, and TNF‐alpha) Secondary outcomes: heart rate, systemic blood pressure, oxygen saturation, arterial blood gases, length of ventilation (total duration of respiratory support), PDA, need for treatment with ibuprofen or surfactant, incidence of air leaks, severe IVH, oxygen dependency at day 28 and/or at 36 weeks' postconceptional age, survival
Notes
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Low risk	Table of random numbers with stratified randomization for gestational age
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Low risk	Random number (representing allocation) was disclosed during phone call after enrollment in the trial.
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes	High risk	Blinding was impossible owing to the nature of the interventions.
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Study authors reported no incomplete outcome data.
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	Primary and secondary outcomes reported in the published article corresponded with outcomes listed in the original protocol. Information provided by study authors
Other bias	Unclear risk	Unclear from the information provided