Editorial: Let's talk about Level IV: The bones of a good retrospective case series.

摘要

"A good retrospective case series." An oxymoron? Not necessarily. The retrospective case series, or Level IV study, has always been, and remains today, the most common research design in our literature. When I first looked at this topic more than 10 years ago, nearly four in five orthopaedic studies were retrospective [3]. Although it is trendy in evidence-based medicine circles to turn one's nose up at the humble case series, there is no avoiding them, and, in fact, a majority of the 100 most-commonly cited ortho paedic articles are Level IV studies [2].