Neuromuscular blocking agents in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome: a summary of the current evidence from three randomized controlled trials

Annals of Intensive Care

Table 5 GRADE evidence profile for impact of NMBA in acute ARDS from systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

No of studies (No of participants)		Quality assessment					Summary of findings
		Study limitations	Consistency	Directness	Precision	Publication bias	Relative effect (95% CI)	Best estimate of intervention group	Quality
				NMBA vs. Control
ICU Mortality:
3 (431)	Moderate limitations^*	No important inconsistency	Direct	Not important imprecision	Unlikely		0.71 (0.55 – 0.90)	27%	+++, moderate
Mortality at Day 28:
2 (395)	Moderate limitations^*	No important inconsistency	Direct	Not important imprecision	Unlikely		0.68 (0.51 – 0.92)	23.7%	+++, moderate
Barotrauma:
3 (431)	Moderate limitations^*	No important inconsistency	Direct	Not important imprecision	Unlikely		0.45 (0.22 – 0.92)	0%	+++, moderate
Critical illness neuromyopathy:
3 (293)	Moderate limitations^*	No important inconsistency	Direct	Not important imprecision	Unlikely		1.13 (0.76 – 1.67)	0%	+++, moderate

*Unclear allocation concealment in two studies, not analyzed using intention-to-treat in one studies.