Evidence-Based Medicine - Principles and Impact on Plastic Surgery

The increasing importance of evidence-based medicine (EBM) is the result of an increasing demand for a rational decision-making process in healthcare. It has been demonstrated that 1540 % of decisions made in healthcare do not have a solid scientific basis. This is particularly problematic in times of limited financial resources, when reimbursement increasingly depends on how "evidence-based" a particular treatment is. Application of EBM principles in plastic surgery is therefore no longer an option. This, however, requires a basic understanding of the existing levels of evidence. In the present article, principles of EBM will be presented. The importance of randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews for plastic surgery will be highlighted along with a discussion of the quality of the plastic surgical literature based on results of recent systematic analyses. The plastic surgical community has appreciated the need for higher quality clinical studies. Improvement of the quality of reporting is, however, critical.