Chiropractic, Lumbar Disc Herniations, Nerve Root Injections

Posting Date:  Oct 13, 2025

In this episode of the Chiropractic Science Podcast, Dr. Dean Smith and Dr. Cesar Hincapie discuss his research involving chiropractic, lumbar disc herniations and nerve root injections. He describes the ongoing SALuBRITY trial which is the first-ever chiropractic randomized clinical trial funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and is also partially funded by the European Centre for Chiropractic Research Excellence.

Dr. Cesar Hincapié completed his clinical training as a Doctor of Chiropractic (DC, 2003) at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, in Toronto, Canada. While maintaining a clinical practice, he earned a MHSc (2008) and a PhD (2015) in epidemiology at the University of

Toronto. During his PhD, he was awarded a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Fellowship in knowledge translation. After several years of research, clinical, and teaching activities, Dr. Hincapié completed postdoctoral training in clinical trials and injury epidemiology at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital (University of Toronto affiliated academic hospital). In 2019, he was recruited to the University of Zurich as an International Chiropractic Research Fellow and served as head of clinical research within the Department of Chiropractic Medicine at Balgrist University Hospital and University of Zurich. As of August 2022, Cesar joined the Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute at the University of Zurich as Senior Scientist and Head of the Musculoskeletal Epidemiology Research Group.

The Musculoskeletal Epidemiology Research Group is an interdisciplinary research team focused on producing high quality and relevant research related to musculoskeletal and spine health and care. Their work applies a clinical epidemiological perspective to the area of musculoskeletal health and care. Dr. Hincapié is the principal investigator of the SALuBRITY randomised clinical trial, which is assessing the comparative effectiveness of spinal manual therapy and corticosteroid nerve root injection for the management of patients with sciatica.

Here is the video of our conversation

Here are the articles we discussed in this episode.

1.
Incidence of and risk factors for lumbar disc herniation with radiculopathy in adults: a systematic review.
Hincapié CA, Kroismayr D, Hofstetter L, Kurmann A, Cancelliere C, Raja Rampersaud Y, Boyle E, Tomlinson GA, Jadad AR, Hartvigsen J, Côté P, Cassidy JD.
Eur Spine J. 2025 Jan;34(1):263-294. doi: 10.1007/s00586-024-08528-8. Epub 2024 Oct 25.
PMID: 39453541 Free PMC article.
2.
‘Which treatment do you believe you received?’ A randomised blinding feasibility trial of spinal manual therapy.
Muñoz Laguna J, Kurmann A, Hofstetter L, Nyantakyi E, Braun J, Clack L, Bang H, Farshad M, Foster NE, Puhan MA, Hincapié CA; SALuBRITY Blinding Clinician Group.
Chiropr Man Therap. 2025 Jan 14;33(1):4. doi: 10.1186/s12998-024-00561-0.
PMID: 39810207 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial.
3.
Feasibility of blinding spinal manual therapy interventions among participants and outcome assessors: protocol for a blinding feasibility trial.
Muñoz Laguna J, Kurmann A, Hofstetter L, Nyantakyi E, Clack L, Bang H, Foster NE, Braun J, Puhan MA, Farshad M, Hincapié CA.
Pilot Feasibility Stud. 2024 May 2;10(1):70. doi: 10.1186/s40814-024-01492-6.
PMID: 38698433 Free PMC article.
4.
Swiss chiropractic cohort (Swiss ChiCo) pilot study: feasibility for a musculoskeletal cohort study conducted within a nationwide practice-based research network.
Lalji R, Hofstetter L, Kongsted A, von Wyl V, Braun J, Puhan MA, Hincapié CA; Swiss ChiCo Clinicians Group.
Eur Spine J. 2024 May;33(5):2068-2078. doi: 10.1007/s00586-024-08175-z. Epub 2024 Mar 13.
PMID: 38480624
5.