To what extent should we trust statistics?

Summary Everyday clinical decisions are based on “statistically” significant or non-significant results, with an exaggerated credit given to statistics. This is due to the interesting dichotomy that statistics respond to: to perform a surgery or not, to give a treatment or not. However, statistics rely on the law of probability and cannot provide definite judgments. This manuscript aims to highlight the statistical flaws in clinical practice from a simple perspective for surgeons.