Abstract

November 2006

Section Elements of Contemporary Practice

Evidence-based surgery may be defined as the consistent and judicious use of the best available scientific evidence in making decisions about the care of surgical patients. Although researchers are charged with generating and disseminating scientific evidence, the greatest responsibility for the success of evidence-based surgery ultimately lies with individual surgeons, who must not only practice evidence-based surgery but also understand and appropriately interpret an immense surgical literature. The author provides a framework for evaluating the strength of evidence for surgical practices, for examining the validity of scientific studies in surgery, and for assessing the role of evidence-based surgery in measuring and improving the quality of surgical care. This chapter contains 9 references.

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