Rello 2006.

Methods	Mulitcentre, prospective, randomized, single‐blind, controlled study
Participants	Setting: 4 centres (3 Spain & 1 USA) Inclusion criteria: Mechanical ventilation for 24 hours and 18 years old Exclusion criteria: Respiratory infection, bronchiectasis, haematemesis, haemoptysis, or cystic fibrosis; sensitivity to silver or silver compounds; immunosuppression; and, in the substudy only, intubation within 30 days and pregnancy Participant numbers: 155 randomly assigned, 34 excluded (6 not intubated, 28 intubated < 24 h); 149 all intubated; 121 intubated ≥ 24 h analysed; 61 silver‐coated ETT versus 60 non‐coated ETT who were intubated for ≥ 24 h
Interventions	Silver‐coated ETT (7.5 mm to 8.5 mm internal diameter, high‐volume/low‐pressure) for 7.7 days versus non‐coated ETT (7.5 mm to 8.5 mm internal diameter, high‐volume/low‐pressure) for 5.9 days
Outcomes	Hospital mortality; device‐related adverse events
Notes	Risk of VAP was not reported Cause of hospital mortality was not specified in this study
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Low risk	Computer‐generated randomization sequence
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Low risk	No details given in manuscript. After contacting study authors: Adequate allocation concealment with central randomization by telephone, with different lists for each institution
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	High risk	Investigators were blinded to block length; microbiology laboratory personnel were blinded to group assignments
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	High risk	Single‐blinded study design. The ICU investigators could not be blinded
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	0% of participants lost to follow‐up.
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	All outcomes described in methods section reported
Other bias	Low risk	None was apparent

APACHE = Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation;

ARDS = acute respiratory distress syndrome;

BAL = bronchoalveolar lavage;

ETT = endotracheal tube;

ICU = intensive care unit;

PEEP = positive end‐expiratory pressure;

VAP = ventilator‐associated pneumonia.