Evidence-based surgery series. Part 2: Interpreting systematic reviews and meta-analyses in surgical research - a practical guide for surgeons

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses represent essential dements of surgical practice and research. They provide the highest possible evidence level and enable busy surgeons to rapidly gain a comprehensive overview about an important clinical question. Moreover, they constitute a foundation for evidence-based surgical clinical practice, treatment guidelines, knowledge transfer, and research prioritization. However, the quality of systematic reviews varies depending on the quality of the included studies and their methodological rigour. Therefore, surgeons need basic skills to critically read and appraise such meta-analyses and systematic reviews. The objective of this educational review is to provide surgeons with essential skills to understand and judge the quality of systematic reviews as well as their applicability to their own surgical practice.