The outcomes movement and evidence-based medicine in plastic surgery.

Evidence-based medicine is analyzed from its inception. This article takes the reader through the early formation of scientific medicine that has evolved into the multipurpose tool it has become today. Early proponents of evidence-based medicine and the outcomes movement, and their intentions, are presented. The work of David Sackett, Gordon Guyatt, Florence Nightingale, Ernest Codman, and Archie Cochrane is discussed, regarding how they perceived the need for better clinical outcomes that led to a more formalized evidence-based practice. The fundamentals are discussed objectively in detail, and potential flaws are presented that guide the reader to deeper comprehension.