Walmrath 2000

Methods	n = 41, centres in Europe and South Africa (see Notes) Allocation concealment: not described Baseline similarity: not described Blinding: caregivers not blinded (no placebo) Cointerventions: not described Withdrawals: none Losses to follow‐up: not described
Participants	ARDS, not further 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 24 hours (medium dose), or 4 ml/kg followed by up to 3 doses of 2 ml/kg within 24 hours (high dose), or standard therapy
Outcomes	Mortality (medium dose surfactant versus control): RR 0.86 (95% CI 0.27 to 2.71), based on data from 26 patients. Ventilator‐free days to day 28 (median): medium dose: 14; high dose: not reported; control: 0
Notes	Published only as abstract. Mortality data are reported only for the medium dose and standard therapy groups (n = 26).
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	B ‐ Unclear