Study design and hierarchy of evidence for surgical decision making.

Clin Plast Surg. 2008 Apr;35(2):195-205

Authors: Sprague S, McKay P, Thoma A

This article provides a historical overview of the hierarchy of evidence for surgical decision making and discusses key study designs in the hierarchy of evidence. This encompasses meta-analyses, randomized controlled trials, and observational studies, including cohort and case-controlled studies, case series and case reports, and basic science studies. This article also reviews the principles and importance of evidence-based plastic surgery and describes several systems to rate the strength of the scientific evidence.

PMID: 18298992 [PubMed - in process]