Lumbar Radicular Pain: Manual Therapy versus Nerve Root Injection

The SALuBRITY Trial aims to investigate two common treatments for back-related leg pain — spinal manual therapy and cortisone injections — to understand the extent to which they improve pain, function, and quality of life in patients with sciatica. This is a randomized double-placebo-controlled study funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the European Centre for Chiropractic Research Excellence (ECCRE). The main study will compare spinal manual therapy versus corticosteroid nerve root injection in terms of effects on pain, function, quality of life, and patient satisfaction. The study includes a “Patient and Public Involvement” subproject with the aim of improving the research quality and relevance through consultation and collaboration with patients and primary care physicians. 

The results of SALuBRITY will be directly applicable to the Swiss setting, and will assist patients, clinicians, and policymakers in their decisions on lumbosacral radicular pain treatment, helping to improve patient care in Switzerland and worldwide. Results of the trial will contribute to the development of clinical practice guidelines and inform evidence-based recommendations on the use of spinal manual therapy and steroid nerve root injection as part of routine clinical care.