Case report preparation: importance and techniques

A case report is a brief but informative document about a patient prepared by a medical practitioner. Commonly a case report is needed to be prepared when a patient under treatment does not show the expected improvement after installation of the treatment procedures / methods considered to be necessary for his/her condition and needs referral to another hospital / doctor. Ideally the contents of a case report should be sufficient to provide information about the patient with regards to identity, suffering at the time of first visit, treatment given till date and the outcome along with the ground why the patient is referred to the concerned hospital / doctor. Great care should be taken by the doctor preparing the case report the lack of which may give rise to difficulty in decision making of the hospital / doctor who receives the patient. Hence a discussion on the importance and techniques of preparation of a case report is considered important.