Essentials of research methods in neurosurgery and allied sciences for research, appraisal and application of scientific information to patient care (Part I)

Abstract

Every neurosurgeon ought to be acquainted with the basics of research methods to enhance the comprehension of the research process and critical appraisal procedures of a scientific write-up. This in turn will ensure the appropriate application of scientific knowledge to patient care. Recent publications reveal that a significant proportion of articles published in neurosurgery are mislabeled with dire consequences on the sorting and indexing of evidence. Furthermore, many clinicians report that they feel unqualified to read the medical literature critically hence, it is for this reason that we conducted this review. Herein, we present a simple algorithm to facilitate the comprehension of research methods, as well as elucidate on the anatomy of common study designs in neurosurgery. Illustrative examples are provided when necessary. Understanding research methods and the critical analysis of published reports of clinical investigation is a fundamental skill of the physician to enable the incorporation of new clinical knowledge to practice

Percutaneous Partial Bone Excision in the Management of Diabetic Toe Osteomyelitis

“…It is a type of observational study in which the effect of an intervention in a single group of patients is described without a control group. 8,13 The study was performed at the Diabetic Foot Clinic at the National Center for Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Genetics (NCDEG) in Amman, Jordan. The center offers medical services for diabetic patients.…”

Randomized controlled trials in neurosurgery

“…This lack of surgical intervention standardization among neurosurgeons has led to differences in their preferred approach based on their expertise, which could introduce expertise bias in trials that compare two different surgical approaches/ techniques. [ 15 ]…”

“…is lack of surgical intervention standardization among neurosurgeons has led to differences in their preferred approach based on their expertise, which could introduce expertise bias in trials that compare two different surgical approaches/ techniques. [15] Another problem with surgeons' expertise is the generalizability of the results. When a procedure is performed by a highly expert surgeon, the results may differ when comparing them to those of a surgeon with less exposure to a similar procedure (which constitutes the majority of practicing surgeons, especially outside tertiary care centers, where the volume of cases is expected to be less).…”

Evidence-based neurosurgery

“…Details have been discussed in “Part I” of this review series 7. A summary of the different types of research methodologies is described in Figure 1 .…”