Surgical Treatment: Evidence-Based and Problem-Oriented

Excerpt

"Surgical Treatment – Evidence-Based and Problem-Oriented" is based upon a concept which the editors believe will become increasingly important in the preparation of clinical textbooks in the 21st century, namely the quality of the evidence upon which currently accepted clinical practice is based needs to be assessed frankly and taken into account when recommendations for patient treatment are made. As is apparent in many of the chapters in this volume, the authors are frequently forced to conclude that a higher level of evidence than is currently available would be necessary in order establish the validity of the currently accepted management of a wide variety of common surgical problems. The editors believe this is a fact of which both students and surgical practitioners need to be aware, so that they may be prepared to update and alter their clinical decision making on the basis of higher levels of evidence when these become available. The editors also hope that increasing awareness of the low level of evidence upon which much present day surgical practice is based will prompt surgeons from many countries to plan or at least participate in clinical trials to achieve a higher quality of evidence upon which to base a more rational clinical practice.