Lindsey C. Sheffler, MD, MAS1; Brad Yoo, MD2

Mohit Bhandari, MD, MSc, FRCSC3; Tania Ferguson, MD2

Evidence-based medicine in orthopaedic surgery comprises predominantly observational studies. While the gold standard of study methodology is considered to be randomized controlled trials (RCTs), observational studies provide valuable information regarding disease prevalence and etiology, rare outcomes, and adverse treatment effects. Orthopaedic surgeons care for many diseases and injuries that are rare and will likely never be the subject of an RCT. Given the bias to which observational studies are prone, however, transparent reporting is imperative. The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement is a checklist of items that can help clinician-scientists to improve the transparency with which observational studies are reported. We offer the following guidelines and examples for how the STROBE statement can be applied to reporting observational studies in orthopaedic surgery.