Comparison of oral amoxicillin and intravenous benzyl penicillin for community acquired pneumonia in children (PIVOT trial): a multicentre pragmatic randomised controlled equivalence trial.

Objective: To ascertain whether therapeutic equivalence exists for the treatment of paediatric community acquired pneumonia by the oral and intravenous (IV) routes.

Methods: A multicentre pragmatic randomised controlled non-blinded equivalence trial was undertaken in eight paediatric centres in England (district general and tertiary hospitals). Equivalence was defined as no more than a 20% difference between treatments of the proportion meeting the primary outcome measure at any time.