| Methods |
Single‐centre randomised controlled trial |
| Participants |
19 infants < 34 weeks and < 2000 grams who could be provided with ventilation. Clinical and radiographic evidence of RDS; IPPV with oxygen > 30% |
| Interventions |
Dexamethasone 0.5 mg/kg/dose 12‐hourly for 3 days starting within 6 hours of birth
Control group did not receive any drug |
| Outcomes |
Changes in oxygen requirements, mean duration of ventilation, culture‐positive sepsis, PDA, BPD (not defined), pneumothorax, mortality |
| Notes |
Infants were entered into the trial only if a ventilator was available. Surfactant was not given. |
| Risk of bias |
| Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) |
Unclear risk |
Random allocation: method not stated |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) |
Unclear risk |
Allocation concealment: not sure |
| Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias)
All outcomes |
High risk |
Blinding of intervention: no |
| Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias)
All outcomes |
High risk |
Blinding of outcome measurement: no |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias)
All outcomes |
Low risk |
Complete follow‐up: yes |
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) |
Low risk |
All prespecified outcomes reported |
