Vertebroplasty, evidence and professional protest

Van Der Weyden, Martin B

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2010.tb03526.x

Topics

Comparative effectiveness research may stimulate heated debate, but ultimately, those who question its findings need to provide high-quality data to support their arguments

One consequence of the continuing rise in the cost of health care has been the emergence of comparative effectiveness research.1 This variant of evidence-based medicine is defined as:

Medical Journal of Australia, Sydney, NSW.

Correspondence:

1. Sox HC, Greenfield B. Comparative effectiveness research: a report from the Institute of Medicine. Ann Intern Med 2009; 151: 203-205.
2. Woodward C. Obama sparks an ideological donnybrook with his push to compare medical treatments. CMAJ 2009; 180: 807.
3. Coorey P. PM puts treatments under costs microscope. Sydney Morning Herald 2009; 15–16 Aug: 4.
4. Vertebroplasty for painful vertebral fractures: end of a treatment era? BackLetter 2009; 24: 109.
5. Buchbinder C, Osborne RH, Kallmes DF. Vertebroplasty appears no better than placebo for painful osteoporotic spinal fractures and has the potential to cause harm [editorial]. Med J Aust 2009; 191: 476-477.
6. Buchbinder R, Osborne RH, Ebeling PR, et al. A randomized trial of vertebroplasty for painful osteoporotic vertebral fractures. N Engl J Med 2009; 361: 557-568.
7. Kallmes DF, Comstock BA, Heagerty PJ, et al. A randomized trial of vertebroplasty for osteoporotic spinal fractures. N Engl J Med 2009; 361: 569-579.
8. Clark WA, Diamond TH, McNeil HP, et al. Vertebroplasty for painful acute osteoporotic vertebral fractures: recent Medical Journal of Australia editorial is not relevant to the patient group that we treat with vertebroplasty. Med J Aust 2010; 192: 334-337. <MJA full text>
9. Buchbinder R, Osborne RH, Kallmes D. Invited editorial presents an accurate summary of the results of two randomised placebo-controlled trials of vertebroplasty. Med J Aust 2010; 192: 338-341. <MJA full text>
10. Wienstein JN. Balancing science and informed choice in decisions about vertebroplasty [editorial]. N Engl J Med 2009; 361: 619-621.

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