Akintorin 1997.

Methods	Randomised ‐ Yes. Blindness of randomisation ‐ Yes. Blindness of intervention ‐ No. Complete follow‐up ‐ No. Blinding of outcome measurement ‐ Can't tell.
Participants	89 infants randomised. 9 post‐randomisation exclusions. 80 infants analysed. Inclusion: Infants 700‐1250g, haemodynamically stable and ready to start enteral feeds. Exclusion: Apgar score < 3 at 5 minutes, to receive breast milk, documented sepsis, NEC or unable to start feeding before day 10 of life.
Interventions	Feeding did not begin until umbilical arterial catheter removed. Continuous feeding by infusion pump. Intermittent feeding given every 3 hours for 15‐30 minutes by gravity via indwelling feeding tube. Feeding protocol for each 50‐100 g weight category. Protocol to manage feeding intolerance (feeds held > 12 hours). Energy and protein intake kept identical between groups. Feeds: undiluted preterm formula (20 Kcal/oz). Timing of Feeds: Protocol was < 10 postnatal days. Actual for Continuous group was 5.7 +/‐ 2.1 days and for Intermittent group was 5.6 +/‐ 2.2 days.
Outcomes	Primary: Days to full feeds (100 Kcal/kg/d). Secondary: Feeding intolerance, days to regain birth weight, days to discharge weight of 2040 g, NEC, and apnoea (>15 seconds).
Notes	Sample size calculation based on 35% decrease in number of days to full feeds in continuous group. Did not exclude SGA infants. Uncertain when feeds changed from continuous to bolus feeding. Numbers unbalanced. Exclusions: 4 Continuous (none due to protocol violation) and 5 Bolus (3 due to protocol violation). Larger proportion of infants whose feeds were held in the continuous group had residuals, whereas in the bolus group infants had apnea/bradycardia. Guidelines for residuals may allow larger volumes than some other studies.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Low risk	Stratified according to birth weight into one of two groups (700‐1000g and 1001‐1250g). Randomly assigned within each weight group by using sequentially numbered opaque sealed envelopes using a table of random numbers.
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Caregivers not blinded as would not be feasible.