Literature search report for S&P

Clinical evaluation template

Literature search report for S&P for medical device clinical evaluation

Use this editable Literature search report for S&P to structure clinical evidence, justify safety and performance conclusions, and keep your MDR/IVDR clinical evaluation documentation audit-ready.

Structure clinical evidenceCollect, appraise and analyse data with a repeatable methodology.
Align with MDCG 2020-6Rank and weight clinical data according to EU guidance.
Support notified-body reviewTrace decisions from evidence to GSPR conclusions.

  • Best for: clinical evaluation planning, CER/CEP/SSCP preparation, PMCF evidence review and literature appraisal.
  • Includes: editable sections aligned with MDR Annex XIV, MDCG 2020-6 and relevant MEDDEV guidance.
  • Format: editable template available through the standard WooCommerce download flow.
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At Lexqara, we connect clinical documentation, PMS activities and regulatory strategy so manufacturers can build defensible clinical evidence packages. Explore the Resource Center, review our Clinical Evaluation Services, or consult MDCG 2020-6 for the clinical evidence hierarchy.

Description:
This Literature Search Report for S&P documents how we executed a reproducible search and screening to support the safety and performance evidence of a subject device.

  • Confirm the objective and the protocol used, and record any deviation with justification.
  • Define and justify the search period for S&P evidence collection.
  • Select search databases (e.g., Embase, PubMed, Cochrane, trials registries) per protocol.
  • Apply consolidated search limitations (article type, language, humans) across databases.
  • Remove duplicates consistently across sources.
  • Capture exact search queries (keywords, connectors, dates, filters) to ensure reproducibility.
  • Perform Level-1/Level-2 screening using documented inclusion/exclusion criteria and reasons for exclusion.
  • Summarize exclusions using predefined codes and keep a list of retained citations.

Use this report when you need documented, repeatable clinical evidence collection for S&P, including published literature and non-published trial data, aligned with MEDDEV 2.7/1 rev.4 expectations.

Key requirements covered include transparent screening decisions and defensible search logic. Level-1 screening reviews titles/abstracts; it matters because it removes clearly irrelevant hits early. Level-2 screening confirms eligibility on full text; it matters because it locks in traceable inclusion decisions.

At Lexqara, we help you build audit-ready CER inputs by optimizing search strategy, screening rules, and reporting—integrated with clinical documentation and post-market activities. Explore our Resource Center [https://lexqara.com/resource-center/] and Clinical Activities [https://lexqara.com/service/clinical-activities/]. See MEDDEV 2.7/1 rev.4 [https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/17522/attachments/1/translations/]. Download the template and request a short gap assessment.

Use it to support CER updates, PMS/PMCF cycles, and consistent evidence traceability across device changes and periodic reviews.

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Template preview: Literature search report for S&P

Review the key sections included in the Literature search report for S&P template before downloading it. This preview shows the structure and content you will receive in the editable file.

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Literature Search Report for S&P

For

[Device Name]

Manufacturer Name: [Manufacturer name]

Document Number: XXXX

Revision: XXXX

Approval

Author

Approval

Name:

Date:

Title:

Signature:

Evaluator

Approval

Name:

Date:

Title:

Signature:

Approval

Name:

Date:

Title:

Signature:

Revision History

Table 1: History of revision

Revision

Date

Change History

Table of Contents

Approval 2

Revision History 3

Table of Contents 4

Acronyms 5

1. Objective 6

2. Deviation to the protocol 6

3. Search period 6

4. Search databases 6

4.1. Literature search database 6

4.2. Clinical trials database 6

4.3. Clinical evidence from the previous CER 7

4.4. Inclusion and exclusion criteria 7

5. Summary of literature search results 8

5.1. Introduction 8

5.2. Overall Search limitations 8

5.3. Search queries 8

5.4. Search results 11

5.5. Reasons for exclusion 11

6. Detailed literature search results 12

7. List of retained citations for S&P 12

Acronyms

CER

Clinical evaluation report

EBM

Evidence based medicine

EEA

European economic area

EU

European union

LVL

Level

MEDDEV

Medical Devices Documents

N/A

Not applicable

S&P

Safety and performance

US

United States

WHO

World health organization

Objective

The literature search report has been carried out according to the protocol [protocol number and revision]. A systematic approach has been applied to collect clinical literature articles that support the S&P of [Device Name], hereafter named [device short name] (Objective 3).

Deviation to the protocol

No deviation to the protocol described in Section 1.

All deviations need to be justified for their impact on the results.

Search period

The S&P literature search report is defined to cover the period from [start date (DD Month YYYY)] to [end date (DD Month YYYY)].

As described in the protocol indicated in Section 1, Include a justification how the period selected is appropriate (copy/paste justification from the protocol)

Search databases

Literature search database

The following literature databases have been selected to collect the published literature articles that support the S&P of [device short name].

Table 2: Search databases for published literature

Literature Database

Justification (copy/paste the justification from the protocol)

Embase

Embase is a recognized database for literature described in Section A4 of MEDDEV 2.7/1 rev.4.

Embase will be used as a primary medical literature database for the collection of clinical data using dedicated search terms.

PubMed

PubMed is a recognized database for literature described in Section A4 of MEDDEV 2.7/1 rev.4.

PubMed will be used as a primary medical literature database for the collection of clinical data using dedicated search terms

Cochrane Library

The Cochrane Library includes a database of systematic reviews (Cochrane Reviews) in health care.

Cochrane Library is used as secondary database for the collection of clinical data missed in the primary databases to support the S&P of the subject device.

Google Scholar

Google scholar will be used to pre-screen the literature available for the subject device to evaluate the quantity and quality of clinical literature available. The pre-screening of clinical literature will not be documented.

Google Scholar will be used as secondary database for the collection of clinical data that will be used to support the safety and performance of the subject device when the results are poor via the primary databases. Hence, the use of Google Scholar is optional.

Clinical trials database

The following clinical trials databases have been selected to collect the non-published data that support the S&P of [device short name].

Table 3: Search database for non-published data

Clinical Trial Database

Justification (copy/paste the justification from the protocol)

EU Clinical Trials Register

The EU Clinical Trials Register contains information on interventional clinical trials on medicines conducted in the European Union (EU), or the European Economic Area (EEA). This database enables to search for clinical trials in the EudraCT database (used by national medicines regulators for data related to clinical trial protocols) and World Health Organization (WHO’s) Registry Network (for which EU Clinical Trials Register is a primary registry.

Clinicaltrials.gov

Clinicaltrials.gov is the database of clinical trials conducted in US.

Clinical evidence from the previous CER

To be removed if not applicable

Literature articles included in the previous clinical evaluation report (CER) will be screened against the inclusion/exclusion criteria to verify their continuous suitability.

Table 4: Searches in previous CER

Previous CER

Number of articles to be screened

Document Number and revision

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

For the identification of relevant literature articles, the results from the literature search implementation have been reviewed for inclusion based on the titles and abstracts (Level-1 screening) and the full articles (Level-2 screening). The decision to retain each article has been defined based on the inclusion/exclusion criteria described below.

Table 5: Inclusion/exclusion criteria for S&P (copy/paste from the protocol)

Code

Description

Inclusion criteria

I1

The article includes on label data on safety and/or performance of the subject device

I2

The article includes off label data on safety and/or performance of the subject device

IX

Exclusion criteria

E1

The article does not include safety and/or performance data on the subject device

E2

When multiple medical conditions are treated/diagnosed or multiple devices are used during the same study, data are not stratified in respect to the subject device or the medical condition treated/diagnosed by subject device.

E3

Conference article, protocol, survey, position paper, reviews, non-controlled trial, non-randomized trial (to be adapted depending on the quality and quantity of expected results)

E4

Not in English

E5

Not in humans

E6

Article outside the period of search

E7

Duplicated reference

E8

Full text not accessible

EX

Summary of literature search results

Introduction

The literature search has been implemented according to the protocol described in Section 1 to detect the published and unpublished articles related to the subject or equivalent devices and bring clinical evidence for the demonstration of safety and performance of [device short name].

Overall Search limitations

The search limitations, such as types of articles, language, etc. differ from a database to another. Hence, this section describes the overall search limitation strategy that has been applied in the literature search.

Table 6: Overall search limitations (table adapted from the protocol)

Type of search

Objective

Type of limitation

Description

Literature search

S&P

Search period:

Article type:

Language:

Population:

See Section 3

Controlled clinical Trials/meta-analysis/systematic review

English

Humans

Search queries

The literature search has been carried out by: John Doe

The literature search has been implemented on: DD/MM/YYYY

The following table describes the search queries that have been used for the identification of literature articles relevant to the S&P of [Device short name].

Table 7: Search queries for S&P (table adapted from the protocol (removal of strategy column))

The queries need to be as detailed as possible with all limitations, start/end dates of search, exact keywords, connectors, etc. to be reproducible later by another author and to be modified easily for an update

Literature database

Detailed limitations

#

Detailed query

Embase

EBM:

  • Randomized controlled trial,
  • Controlled clinical trial,
  • Systematic review,
  • Meta-analysis

Date: Publication years from YYYY to YYYY

Quick limits:

  • Humans,
  • Only in English

Publication types: Article

PubMed

Publication type:

  • Comparative study
  • Controlled clinical trial
  • Meta analysis
  • Randomized controlled trial
  • Systematic review

Date – publication:

YYYY/MM/DD to YYYY/MM/DD

Language: English

Filter: Humans

Cochrane Library

Content type:

  • Cochrane Review
  • Trials

Cochrane Library publication date:

Between Month YYYY and Month YYYY

Search word variations: activated

All Text:

All Text:

All Text:

Google Scholar

Article: activated

Any type: activated

Custom range:

YYYY – YYYY

Include citations: activated

EU Clinical Trials Register

Select Date Range: YYYY-MM-DD to YYYY-MM-DD

Results Status: Trials with results

Clinicaltrials.gov

Study status: All studies

Study type:

  • Interventional
  • Observational

Study results: with results

Date Range: Last update posted: From MM/DD/YYYY to MM/DD/YYYY

Other terms:

Other terms:

Other terms:

Previous CER: XXX rev.1

N/A – all articles included in the previous CER will be re-screened to confirm their suitability.

Search results

The following table describes the total number of articles collected after the implementation of each literature search query as well as the number of excluded/included articles after level-1 and level-2 screening processes.

Table 8: Search results

Literature database

Query

Number of results

Total number of results without duplicate

Total number of results

Level 1 screening

Level 2 screening

Number excluded

Number included

Number excluded

Number included

Embase

PubMed

Cochrane Library

Google Scholar

EU Clinical Trials Register

Clinicaltrials.gov

Previous CER: XXX rev.1

Reasons for exclusion

The following table describes the summary of reasons for inclusion/exclusion for all articles collected via the literature search strategy implemented.

Table 9: Summary of reasons for inclusion/exclusion

TOTAL number of results

Level 1 screening

Level 2 screening

Reasons for inclusion/exclusion

Number of results

Reasons for inclusion/exclusion

Number of results

E1

E1

E2

E2

E3

E3

E4

E4

E5

E5

E6

E6

E7

E7

E8

E8

I1

I1

I2

I2

Detailed literature search results

The following table describes the reasons for inclusion/exclusion of all individual articles collected via the literature search strategy implemented.

Table 10: Justification for inclusion/exclusion

#

Citations

Screening

LVL 1

LVL 2

List of retained citations for S&P

  1. XXX
  2. XXX

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