| Methods |
Randomised double‐blind controlled trial
Study location: single centre in Thessaloniki, Greece
Study period: not stated |
| Participants |
44 newborn infants with birth weight under 1500 grams, age 1 to 7 days |
| Interventions |
EPO group (n = 25) received 150 IU/kg/dose of EPO (Cilag AG, Zug, Switzerland) twice a week (300 IU/kg/week, low dose) during 4 weeks. Control group (n = 19) received no placebo. From the 15th day of life, iron was started at 3 mg/kg/d (low dose) in all infants. |
| Outcomes |
Number of transfusions per infant
Sepsis
IVH
Days on ventilator |
| Notes |
It is not stated whether infants who had received blood transfusions before study entry were included.
Transfusion guidelines were in place. |
| Risk of bias |
| Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) |
Low risk |
Random number table |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) |
Low risk |
Blinding of randomisation: yes |
| Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias)
All outcomes |
Low risk |
"The doctors in clinical charge were unaware of the treatment or control status of the babies". |
| Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias)
All outcomes |
Low risk |
"The doctors in clinical charge were unaware of the treatment or control status of the babies". |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias)
All outcomes |
Low risk |
Complete follow‐up: yes |
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) |
Unclear risk |
The protocol for the study was not available to us; therefore we cannot ascertain whether deviations from the protocol occurred. |
| Other bias |
Low risk |
Appears free of other bias |
