Critical appraisal of the medical literature is an important skill for all health care providers in the management of patients. Given the overwhelming amount of published information available, it is important to apply a systematic approach to help identify high quality evidence that is free of bias and relevant to the patient. Critical appraisal is the process of careful in-depth consideration of study design, its appropriateness, strength, quality and relevance to the clinical question. Potential sources of bias, the appropriateness of the stated results, and analysis of the data need to be thoughtfully examined.