[Two forms of second opinion].

Abstract

Second Opinions are requested and given for a wide variety of problems in the health care system. It is proposed that such opinions be initially differentiated into "communicative second opinion" (CSO) and "evidence-based second opinion (EBSO). CSOs are frequently set up without a search of the literature, and more in a sense of communication ("that is what I would do too"). In the case of the EBSO, certain demands derived from the principles of evidence-based medicine are expected to be met: examination of the type of problem involved, and the validity and clinical relevance of the clinical data. Of importance is the need to define whether, (on the basis of a scoring system??) for a given problem/question, a proposal threshold (a better options is available) or an exclusion threshold (no data as a basis for an option) is trespassed.