Abraham 1996

Methods	n = 25, 8 centres Allocation concealment: not described Baseline similarity: age (D), APACHE II, sepsis Blinding: caregivers Cointerventions: not described Withdrawals: none Losses to follow‐up: none
Participants	Inclusions: Mechanical ventilation; bilateral CXR infiltrates, no LAH, P/F of 225 mmHg or less; duration of ARDS < 24 hours Exclusions: Recent MI; liver or renal failure; neurogenic pulmonary edema
Interventions	IV liposomal PGE1, dose titrated to 3.6 mcg/kg every 6 hours (14.4 mcg/kg/day) for 7 days, or placebo
Outcomes	28 day mortality: RR 0.24 (95% CI 0.02 to 2.23) Adverse events leading to discontinuation of therapy: treatment: 1/17 (desaturation and dysrhythmia), control: 0/8 Other safety data: any medication‐related adverse event (treatment: 14/17 patients, control: 3/8 patients); infusion site irritation, transient desaturation and agitation were reported in some treatment but no control patients; no serious adverse event in either group was considered related to study medication
Notes
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	B ‐ Unclear