[Evidence-based medicine. Input of controlled clinical trials]

Controlled clinical trials are the support of Evidence-Based Medicine. In most instances, only them can indeed provide the demonstration of both the efficacy and safety of a pharmacological treatment, based upon rigorous scientific experimental observations avoiding potential bias due to subjective interpretation. In order to be able to extrapolate conclusions of drug trials to clinical practice and to positively influence physician's attitudes, "explanatory" trials, which aim at proving the intrinsic activity of the molecule, should be completed by "pragmatic" trials, which aim at demonstrating the clinical utility of the drug.