Does evidence-based medicine exist in the treatment of Menière's disease? A critical review of the last decade of publications.

Debate surrounding the need for evidence-based research in all fields of otolaryngology has recently emerged. A review of English language articles dealing with the treatment of Menière's disease published from 1989 to 1999 was performed. The papers were classified according to article type (observational studies, non-clinical studies, controlled trials, randomised controlled trials) and according to the grade of evidence that was offered. A total of 128 publications were reviewed, of which only three were randomised controlled trials and a further three were well-designed controlled studies without randomization. The majority of papers were non-experimental clinical descriptive studies or case series. Data from this review would suggest that more comprehensive evidence-based studies are required in order to settle areas of confusion surrounding treatment of this relapsing condition