November 16, 2022

Methodology: how to make a case report or case series report

Case reports or case series reports are descriptive studies. Despite the fact that their results are not used to make inferences, they are the first line of evidence for new therapies and a preamble to research with an ideal methodological design. This type of study is essential to describe new or unusual diseases, adverse events or complications of known pathologies. They have become an elementary and accessible means of communication for health professionals. In the same way, they are adequate pedagogical material to promote writing and intervention skills, mainly for novice researchers. In addition to strengthening the academy, they stimulate the dissemination of knowledge and help to solve the dilemmas of clinical practice. They are also a basic tool for starting and maintaining research, so they will continue to be used as a means of communication and a link for medical knowledge. Consequently, it is important to know its definition, its structure, and its role in the medical literature and in research. This review provides the necessary elements to take into account when publishing a methodology for this type of study.

Case reports or case series reports are descriptive studies, although their results are not used to make inferences, they are the first line of evidence for new therapies and a preamble to research with a stronger methodological design. This type of study is essential to describe new or unusual diseases, adverse events, or complications of known pathologies. They have become an elementary and accessible means of communication for health professionals. They are also pedagogical material to promote writing and intervention skills, mainly for novice researchers. This type of study strengthens academia, stimulates the spread of knowledge, and helps to resolve the dilemmas of clinical practice. In addition, they are a basic tool for the initiation and maintenance of research,so they will remain updated as a means of communication and linkage to medical knowledge. Therefore, it is important to know their definition, structure, and role in the medical literature and research. This review provides the elements to consider when publishing a methodology for this type of study.

Introduction

The case report or case series report is defined as a detailed narrative about medical or scientific experiences, characterized by being innovative and informative and because it generally describes contents about clinical manifestations of rare diseases, epidemics, new diagnostic methods, effectiveness and drug safety, among other topics of medical practice. Based on these narratives, it is possible to elaborate hypotheses to develop studies with the appropriate methodological design according to the research question that is formulated 1–4 . In this narrative review of the medical literature, we seek to develop the methodology for writing a case report or a case series report.

Materials and methods

For the development of this review, a search of the literature was carried out in the PubMed, EMBASE and LILACS databases, as well as in the gray literature Greylit, Opengrey, Trypdatabase and Google Escolar, in the English and Spanish languages, for articles that had Mesh terms: “Case reports” [Publication Type]; EMTREE: «Case report» [used for original items for reporting clinical work on not more than 4 individual patients]; and DeCS: «Case reports [Words]». Bibliographic citations published up to January 2017 were included, an update of the search was made on March 3, 2021. The authors obtained 38 articles and based on this information they wrote the guidelines for this article.

What is a case report and case series?

The case report is an observational study in which one to four clinical cases are reviewed; however, there is no unified criteria 4–7 . In its content, the information of the patient or patients is required: demographic data, symptoms and other relevant clinical characteristics, vital signs and detailed physical examination related to the health problem. This methodology is a tool to report rare or unknown diseases, report unusual presentations or complications of known diseases. In addition, it communicates the diagnostic approaches and the anecdotal surgical and therapeutic procedures that have not been subjected to studies with adequate methodology due to a lack of a sufficient sample, or that have recently appeared 6,8–11, which makes them the first line of evidence. Consequently, they are useful as an introduction or starting point for research with greater methodological rigor

The case series report is a descriptive study, in which more than four clinical cases (usually four to ten cases) are typically documented, but it should be clarified that there is heterogeneity regarding this criterion in the reviewed literature. The main characteristic of the patients is sharing common clinical or therapeutic aspects 4,6,7,13–15. The case series report is useful for the study of a rare disease or to elaborate a hypothesis and thus initiate a more solid investigation in the evidence 10,11. From the pedagogical perspective, the case report and the case series report can be used as didactic material, strengthening the learning of diseases and motivating students to generate debates about the clinical process, the diagnostic approach, and therapeutic decisions. 11.

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