Writing Case Reports and Review Articles
13-3
Introduction Section
The Introduction section of your case report should establish the rationale for reporting the case, including its importance. The references that support the rationale should be cited; if appropriate, you can cite review articles instead of individual cases or studies to minimize the number of references. (Many journals have strict limits on the number of references permitted in case reports.) The Introduction should end with 1 or 2 sentences stating the purpose of the case report. This statement should answer 2 questions: why is this case being reported, and how does it contribute to medical knowledge (in other words, what will readers get by reading it)?
The following example answers these questions well:
Although peripheral arthritis is the most common extraintestinal manifestation of inflammatory bowel disease, it is very rarely addressed in the orthopaedic literature. The overwhelming majority of patients with inflammatory bowel disease present with gastrointestinal symptoms and do not have any joint involvement until much later. We present the case of a patient who had joint pain and swelling but lacked any sign of gastrointestinal involvement. After 5 months of workup, the patient was diagnosed with Crohn disease, and the joint symptoms improved with appropriate medical treatment. We believe that inflammatory bowel disease should be considered in the differential diagnosis of joint pain and swelling. (From Olszewski MA et al. Knee pain and swelling due to Crohn disease. J Bone Joint Surg Am 87:1844 – 1847, 2005.)
Case Description
The next section is a description of the case being reported. This section is typically labeled “Case Report,” “Case History,” or “Case Description” (depending on journal style). The Case Description section should tell a story. You should include all relevant data to enable readers to understand the case and understand how you reached the diagnoses and treatment decisions, but you should omit details not directly relevant to the decisions or outcomes.
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