Why case reports matter
نویسنده
چکیده
Our era is undoubtedly the era of “big data.” This digitized data is everywhere,but in thepracticeof arthroplastysurgery thisera ismost evident in how we commonly learn about surgical outcomes e joint registries, administrative databases, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Hospital Compare website. By collating or sampling “big data,” the potential bias of anecdotal results is diluted and we come to a realistic “truth” about our patients, their experiences, and outcomes. The value is undisputable, but not without flaw. Ontheotherendof the spectrumfrom “bigdata” is the case report. Case reports are as old as antiquity [1] and are defined as a narrative that describes for medical, scientific or educational purposes, a medical problemexperiencedbya singlepatient or a small numberof patients [2]. The report usually describes a diagnostic dilemma, a new disease or unusual manifestation of the disease process, unusual treatment challenge, unanticipated early failure, or complication. Case reports have been important in medicine (the association of thalidomide and birth defects [3]), surgery (the first heart transplant [4]), and orthopaedics (early work on sciatica [5] and arthroiplasty [6]) to name but a few. Case reports not only convey new information, but also may generate hypotheses for future clinical studies, and are an indispensible teaching tool. The philosopher Immanuel Kant [7] pointed out that the question is often as or more important than the answer in medical
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