Rickard 2004.

Methods	Randomized controlled trial
Participants	251 ICU patients with a CVC receiving any combination of crystalloids, lipids and non‐lipid PN
Interventions	Administration set changes at 72 hours or no change up to 144 hours
Outcomes	Catheter colonization CR‐BSI
Notes	Fluid container bags were changed every 24 hours Central catheters: 100% PN: separate data available for participants receiving PN Loss to follow‐up: 5%
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Low risk	Adequate random sequence generation Quote: "A computerised random‐number generator randomized each CVC to either receive a routine set change or have the original administration set left intact for the duration of catheterization" (p. 651)
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	High risk	Not originally reported, after checking with author: not adequately concealed
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Not discussed, not feasible because of study design
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Not discussed, not feasible because of study design
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Main outcome: CR‐BSI concealed: laboratory staff were blinded to the study group Quote: "a blinded intensivist reviewed microbiological results .... and cases of systemic inflammatory response syndrome using strict definitions to diagnose" (p. 651)
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Quote: "29 (7.1%) of the CVCs were not cultured due to autopsy or lost or contaminated specimens ... these were equally distributed between the groups" (p. 652) No information in manuscript re CR‐BSI missing outcomes; clarified with author, daily check of microbiological reporting system was undertaken
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	No pre‐protocol Primary outcome variables were specified and reported on