Keszler 2004a.

Methods	Single‐centre randomised trial.
Participants	18 infants. Inclusion criteria: < 34 weeks' GA, ventilated for RDS before 6 h of age. Exclusion criteria: congenital cardiac, respiratory or CNS anomalies, paralysis or sedation or ETT leak > 30%.
Interventions	Ventilator: both groups used Drager Babylog 8000 plus with set backup rate 40/min. Target: PaCO2 of 35‐45 torr (mmHg). VTV group (n = 9): AC‐VG. Set expired VTtarget 5 mL/kg, adjusted by 0.5 mL/kg to maintain target PaCO2. PLV group (n = 9): AC. PIP set to achieve 4‐6 mL/kg expired VT, using PIP changes of 1‐2 cmH2O to maintain target PaCO2. Duration of intervention: 72 h or until extubation.
Outcomes	Blood gas results, pneumothorax, PIE, mortality, cranial ultrasound scan.
Supplemental data	BW, age of death in non‐survivors, BPD, duration of ventilation, pneumothorax, PIE, PVL, IVH, blood gas data.
Notes	Requested trial registration.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Low risk	Random number table used to randomise participants.
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Low risk	Blinding of randomisation: sealed envelopes.
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	High risk	No.
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	High risk	No.
Intervention bias (strict vs hybrid studies)	Low risk	Not applicable.
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Follow‐up: complete.
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	Study protocol unavailable for review.
Other bias	Low risk