| Methods | n = 221 Allocation concealment: not described Baseline similarity: APACHE II (D) Blinding: caregivers (sham medication delivery in control group) Cointerventions: not described (lung protective ventilation "encouraged") Withdrawals: not described Losses to follow‐up: none |
|
| Participants | Patients with ARDS (not described) | |
| Interventions | Intratracheal synthetic surfactant (Venticute, containing 1 mg recombinant surfactant protein C and 50 mg phospholipids per ml), 1 ml/kg up to 4 doses in 12‐24 hours, or standard therapy | |
| Outcomes | 28 day mortality: RR 1.27 (95% CI 0.84 to 1.93) Ventilator‐free days to day 28: "not different between the groups" (data not reported) |
|
| Notes | Data from Spragg 2002a (North American trial) and Spragg 2002b (European/South African trial) are presented in the same abstract; neither trial has been published in full. | |
| Risk of bias | ||
| Bias | Authors' judgement | Support for judgement |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) | Unclear risk | B ‐ Unclear |