Guidelines
Expert consensus guidelines: Examining surgical ablation for atrial fibrillation
The surgical treatment for atrial fibrillation (AF) is well established and performed. AF is being treated as a stand-alone procedure or concomitantly with valve, coronary bypass, or other types of cardiac surgical procedures. This document was put together to serve as guidelines and provide recommendations related to the general outcomes associated with surgical ablation, the state of hybrid procedures, the optimal ablation tools available, and the recommendations for the appropriate education and training of surgeons in the field.Statement on matching language to the type of evidence used in describing outcomes data
There are many different types of studies that can be conducted to provide evidence for clinical and outcomes research, including but not limited to retrospective observational analyses, case-control studies, and randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Each of these analyses has strengths and limitations, but most importantly, they all result in different types of conclusions about an intervention.
