Taking Part
The FORENSIC study wants to find out if lumbar fusion surgery for a carefully selected group of patients with persistent severe LBP, and who have already undergone non-surgical treatment, is more beneficial than best conservative (non-surgical) care.
How will the research be done?
A special type of study called a randomised controlled trial (RCT) is needed to answer this question. This involves assigning patients to different treatments in a random way so the effects of each treatment can be compared fairly. After giving consent, 270 patients will be allocated to either lumbar fusion surgery or best conservative (non-surgical) care (135 per group). Patients allocated to best conservative care will have some further tailoring of their care, taking into consideration the treatments they have tried previously. Over a 24-month period we will ask patients about their physical function, pain, mental health, general health, quality of life, days off work and healthcare use. We also aim to conduct longer-term follow-up (at 5 years) with future additional funding.
Participant Information
If you are considering taking part in the FORENSIC study, please follow the relevant link below to open the FORENSIC Participant Information Tool (opens in a new tab). Here you can view the key information needed to decide whether to take part.
Find out more about health research
What is a trial? (opens pop-up window containing video)
Why do we do trials? (opens pop-up window containing video)
