Clinical research is based on the evaluated results obtained from techniques used in the service.  Studies currently in progress include lumbar osteosynthesis, sagittal balance of patients operated on thanks to ‘EOS’ equipment and the treatment of vertebral column fractures by vertebroplasty.  All these studies are under the control of the Teaching Hospital’s ethics committee and are carried out by independent attachés.  The evaluation of already widely used surgical equipment or those in the process of development, provides a detailed description of the true nature of the problems encountered, their frequency and their gravity and therefore leads to technical improvements.

A large part of vertebral pathology concerns the far broader issue of global physical care. It’s because of this that evaluation programmes are developed around the holistic physical abilities of the patients and lumbago prevention techniques.  The basic research is developed in Laboratories at Victor Segalen University, at the National Centre for Scientific Research (known as the CNRS) and via French and foreign private laboratories
competition*.

* Entry in many areas of the public services, including the teaching profession, as well as the most prestigious institutes of higher education, depends on succeeding in a competitive examination or ‘concours’.  The number of candidates admitted depends on the number of posts or places available in a given year.