CRITICAL CARE - ADULTS / LETTER TO EDITOR
How much is enough? Reconsidering the role of sample size in critical care research
1
Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk, Poland
2
Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Therapy, University Clinical Centre, Gdansk, Poland
Submission date: 2026-04-20
Acceptance date: 2026-05-09
Publication date: 2026-05-14
Corresponding author
Karol P. Steckiewicz
Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk, 17 Smoluchowskiego St., 80-214 Gdansk, Poland
Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk, 17 Smoluchowskiego St., 80-214 Gdansk, Poland
Anaesthesiol Intensive Ther 2026;58(1):82-83
TOPICS
REFERENCES (13)
1.
Ioannidis JPA. Why most published research findings are false. PLoS Med 2005; 2: e124. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0020124.
2.
Wasserstein RL, Lazar NA. The ASA statement on p-values: context, process, and purpose. Am Stat 2016; 70: 129-133. DOI: 10.1080/00031305.2016.1154108.
3.
Guérin C, Reignier J, Richard JC, Beuret P, Gacouin A, Boulain T, et al. Prone positioning in severe acute respiratory distress syndrome. N Engl J Med 2013; 368: 2159-2168. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1214103.
4.
Amato MBP, Barbas CSV, Medeiros DM, Magal-di RB, Schettino GP, Lorenzi-Filho G, et al. Effect of a protective-ventilation strategy on mortality in the acute respiratory distress syndrome. N Engl J Med 1998; 338: 347-354. DOI: 10.1056/NEJM199802053380602.
5.
Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Network. Ventilation with lower tidal volumes as compared with traditional tidal volumes for acute lung injury and the acute respiratory distress syndrome. N Engl J Med 2000; 342: 1301-1308. DOI: 10.1056/NEJM200005043421801.
6.
Rivers E, Nguyen B, Havstad S, Ressler J, Muzzin A, Knoblich B, et al. Early goal-directed therapy in the treatment of severe sepsis and septic shock. N Engl J Med 2001; 345: 1368-1377. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa010307.
7.
The ProCESS Investigators. A randomized trial of protocol-based care for early septic shock. N Engl J Med 2014; 370: 1683-1693. DOI: 10.1056/ NEJMoa1401602.
8.
The ARISE Investigators and the ANZICS Clinical Trials Group. Goal-directed resuscitation for patients with early septic shock. N Engl J Med 2014; 371: 1496-1506. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1404380.
9.
Mouncey PR, Osborn TM, Power GS, Harrison DA, Sadique MZ, Grieve RD, et al. Trial of early, goal-directed resuscitation for septic shock. N Engl J Med 2015; 372: 1301-1311. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1500896.
10.
The PRISM Investigators. Early, goal-directed therapy for septic shock – a patient-level meta-analysis. N Engl J Med 2017; 376: 2223-2234. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1701380.
11.
Hopewell S, Chan AW, Collins GS, Hróbjartsson A, Moher D, Schulz KF, et al. CONSORT 2025 statement: updated guideline for reporting randomised trials. BMJ 2025; 389. DOI: 10.1136/bmj-2024-081123.
12.
Guyatt GH, Oxman AD, Kunz R, Brozek J, Alonso-Coello P, Rind D, et al. GRADE guidelines 6. Ra-ting the quality of evidence – imprecision. J Clin Epidemiol 2011; 64: 1283-1293. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2011.01.012.
13.
Harhay MO, Casey JD, Clement M, Collins SP, Gayat É, Gong MN, et al. Contemporary strategies to improve clinical trial design for critical care research: insights from the First Critical Care Clinical Trialists Workshop. Intensive Care Med 2020; 46: 930-942. DOI: 10.1007/s00134-020-05934-6.
| eISSN: | 1731-2531 |
| ISSN: | 1642-5758 |
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
