Limitations
The main limitation of our study is the small number of patients included. We planned to include at least 274 patients (137 in each group) in order to detect a 2-day difference in the number of days on respiratory support. However, many of the patients admitted to the ICU in our study period met one of the non-inclusion criteria and were not eligible for randomization. Furthermore, since the characteristics of the pandemic changed and there were lower rates of hospital admissions and ICU admissions, we were unable to reach the calculated sample size. Therefore, the results of this trial need to be further corroborated in larger, adequately powered RCTs.The second limitation is the single center design, which could influence the external validity of the study. Large multicenter studies would obtain more conclusive evidence.Our patients had a median PaO