Taking Evidence-Based Plastic Surgery to the Next Level

Quality of Surgical Outcomes Reporting in Plastic Surgery: A 15-Year Analysis of Complication Data

“…Over the last several years, led by the editorial board of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery journal and other major journals in our specialty, there has been a concerted effort to implement evidence-based medicine principles into the plastic surgery literature in an effort to provide the best evidence to guide clinical decision making and improve the ability of readers to translate research findings to clinical practice. 14–16 This has led to the inclusion of the level of evidence for an article, an important first step which reflects the study design and methodology quality. Unfortunately, even though an article may have a high level of evidence and appropriate study methodology, if the reporting of complication data is inadequate, it precludes surgeons from effectively comparing outcomes from the intervention performed, and diminishes the ability to draw meaningful conclusions about the applicability (a component of evidence-based medicine) of the results presented.…”

“…A model for this type of collaborative effort already exists in plastic surgery, as exemplified by the adaptation and implementation of evidence-based guidelines and the levels of evidence in our literature. 14–16 For publications, this information could be reported in the methods section of manuscripts. Once publicized, investigators performing clinical studies can also be more consistent in capturing data using standardized outcome measure sets.…”

Impact of an Event Reporting System on Resident Complication Reporting in Plastic Surgery Training: Addressing an ACGME and Plastic Surgery Milestone Project Core Competency

“…17–19 Not only does it afford the opportunity to learn from experience, but also enables a comparison of treatment strategies and techniques to facilitate the practice of evidence-based medicine. 20 The objective of this study was to develop, implement, and evaluate an intervention for complication reporting, and compare this to current practice, in a plastic surgery training program.…”