| Methods |
Prospective, cross‐over study |
| Participants |
13 infants mechanically ventilated (AVEA® ventilator, Cardinal Health), sedated and paralysed
Criteria for inclusion:
RSV+ bronchiolitis admitted in PICU for mechanical ventilation
Baseline, range:
Age, wk 4 to 23
Weight, kg 3.2 to 10
PCO2, mmHg 35 to 75 |
| Interventions |
Three 30‐minute periods: data collected at T0 and T60 (ventilation with nitrox), AND at T30 and T90 (ventilation with heliox) |
| Outcomes |
Respiratory system resistance, peak expiratory flow rate, lung resistance, static compliance, change in end‐expiratory lung volume
Response to heliox (electrical impedance tomography measurements: EIT)
Oxygenation index, alveolo‐arterial oxygen gradient, ventilation index, dead‐space/tidal volume ratio |
| Notes |
— |
| Risk of bias |
| Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) |
High risk |
No randomisation |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) |
High risk |
|
| Blinding (performance bias and detection bias)
All outcomes |
High risk |
Unblinded study |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias)
All outcomes |
Low risk |
All patients completed the study and there were no losses to follow‐up, no treatment withdrawals |
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) |
Low risk |
All results for outcomes were reported |
| Other bias |
Low risk |
|
