Lauterbach 1995

Methods	Randomised controlled trial Study location: single‐centre study conducted in Krakow, Poland Study period: not stated
Participants	19 preterm infants with GA < 35 weeks' gestation and birth weight ≤ 1500 grams
Interventions	Infants in EPO group I (n = 6) received EPO (Recormon, Boehringer Mannheim) 100 IU/kg twice a week IV (200 IU/kg/week, low dose) between days 7 and 37, and infants in EPO group II (n = 6) received 400 IU/kg twice weekly (800 IU/kg/week, high dose) during the same time period. Control group (n = 7) received no treatment or placebo. Both EPO groups received 10 mg/kg/week of iron IV (high dose). Control group did not receive iron.
Outcomes	Total volume (mL/kg) of blood transfused between days 7 and 37 Side effects
Notes	Transfusion guidelines were in place. We could not ascertain whether infants who had received blood transfusions before study entry were included.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	No information provided
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Randomly selected preterm infants
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	High risk	Control group received no placebo or iron. Personnel were aware of treatment groups.
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	High risk	Control group received no placebo or iron. Outcome assessors were aware of treatment groups.
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Complete follow‐up: yes
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	The protocol for the study was not available to us; therefore we cannot ascertain whether deviations from the protocol occurred.
Other bias	Low risk	Appears free of other bias