Evidence-basedpracticetutorial:HowtoWriteaCaseReportThemantra“publishorperish”isbecomingincreasinglyrelevanttoallhealthcarepractitioners.Fewpractitionersinprivatepracticewillhavetheopportunitytobeinvolvedinlargescaleclinicaltrialsbutwritingacasereportispossibleforanyosteopath.Casereportsarefrequentlypublishedinthemedicalliterature;morethan240,00haveappearedinMEDLINEinthepast5years.Casereportscanbeusedforeducationalpurposesprovidinganenormousamountofclinicalinformationaboutavaluablelessonfrompractice;theycandescribeadiagnosticortherapeuticdilemmaorpresentimportantinformationonanadversereactiontoaparticularformoftreatment.Additionallycasereportscanalsosuggesttheneedforchangeinpracticeorthinkingintermsofdiagnosisorprognosis.Suggestionsforchangesinintervention(s)orpreventioncannotbemadefromcasereportssincetheyrequirestrongerevidence.Itisunfortunatethatcasereportsareregardedasbeingquitelowlyinthehierarchyofevidence(seeFigure1)sincemanypractitionersfeeltheyprovideagreatdealofhelpfulinformation.SystematicReviewMeta-analysisRandomisedcontrolledtrials(RCTs)NonrandomisedcontrolledtrialsCohortStudiesCase-ControlStudiesAuditofcaseseriesCasereportsFigure1.TheHierarchyofEvidenceThissentimentwasacknowledgedbyBrodell(2000)1whostated“Inthiseraofoutcomestudiesandevidence-basedmedicine,thevalueofcasereports,physicianintuition,andserendipityisoftenoverlooked.Allscienceisrootedinobservations,andfulltimecliniciansareinidealpositionstoobserveunusualcases,developrationalexplanationsforthefindings,andfollowprogresstodetermineiftheirhypothesisappearstobevalid.”Therefore,thecollectedfindingsofcasereportsmayprovidebasesforfutureresearchstudiesthatwillleadtoevidence-basedtreatments.Ifapatienthaspresentedinclinicalpracticewithanunusualorinterestingdisorder,itcanbehelpfultocapturethisinacasereport.Ifyoufeelyouwouldliketowriteacasereport,writtenandsignedconsentshouldbeobtainedinitiallyfromapatientortheirguardian.Obtainingconsentismandatoryforsomejournals,butitisimportanttorealisethatthisisa...
