title: Surgical trial: possibilities and objections.
abstract: Trials are widely regarded as the best method for assessing the effectiveness of new techniques. The placebo effect of surgery is a real but little considered fact; other problems that arise in surgical trials are the skills of the participating surgeons, the random assignment of patients and the impossibility of a wholly blind approach. This paper discusses these matters.
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D006801:Humans; D011897:Random Allocation; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics; D013997:Time Factors