PUBLICATION BIAS AND PROTOCOL DEVIATIONS IN REGISTERED ORTHOPAEDIC TRIALS

The number randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in orthopaedic has increased substantially since the early 20th century, though these studies still comprise a small proportion of the overall orthopaedic literature. Not all RCTs are conducted according to the original methodology (i.e. protocol deviation), and not all completed trials are eventually published (i.e. publication bias). At the macro level, publication bias and protocol …