Beard, David J.Campbell, Marion K.Blazeby, Jane M.Carr, Andrew J.Weijer, CharlesCuthbertson, Brian H.Buchbinder, RachellePinkney, ThomasBishop, Felicity L.Pugh, JonathanCousins, SianHarris, IanLohmander, L. StefanBlencowe, NatalieGillies, KatieProbst, PascalBrennan, CarolCook, AndrewFarrar-Hockley, DairSavulescu, JulianHuxtable, RichardRangan, AmarTracey, IreneBrocklehurst, PeterFerreira, Manuela L.Nicholl, JonReeves, Barnaby C.Hamdy, FreddieRowley, Samuel C. S.Lee, NaomiCook, Jonathan A.2021-11-112021-11-112021-09-30Beard, D J, Campbell, M K, Blazeby, J M, Carr, A J, Weijer, C, Cuthbertson, B H, Buchbinder, R, Pinkney, T, Bishop, F L, Pugh, J, Cousins, S, Harris, I, Lohmander, L S, Blencowe, N, Gillies, K, Probst, P, Brennan, C, Cook, A, Farrar-Hockley, D, Savulescu, J, Huxtable, R, Rangan, A, Tracey, I, Brocklehurst, P, Ferreira, M L, Nicholl, J, Reeves, B C, Hamdy, F, Rowley, S C S, Lee, N & Cook, J A 2021, 'Placebo comparator group selection and use in surgical trials : the ASPIRE project including expert workshop', Health Technology Assessment, vol. 25, no. 53. https://doi.org/10.3310/hta255301366-5278ORCID: /0000-0001-7890-2854/work/103322316https://hdl.handle.net/2164/17477Funding: Funded by the Medical Research Council UK and the National Institute for Health Research as part of the Medical Research Council–National Institute for Health Research Methodology Research programme. Acknowledgements Applicants for the commission were Professor David Beard, Associate Professor Jonathan Cook, Professor Marion Campbell, Professor Jane Blazeby, Professor Andrew Carr, Associate Professor Thomas Pinkney, Professor Brian Cuthbertson, Professor Irene Tracey, Professor Rachelle Buchbinder, Professor Julian Savulescu, Mr Dair Farrah-Hockley and Dr Natalie Blencowe. As part of the process of developing the ASPIRE guidelines, a 2-day workshop was held in St Anne’s College (Oxford, UK) in December 2018. In addition to the applicants, the academic workshop participants were Dr Jonathan Pugh, Dr Felicity Bishop, Dr Sian Cousins, Professor Charles Weijer, Prof Richard Huxtable, Professor Jon Nicholl, Professor Pascal Probst, Professor Peter Brocklehurst, Dr Andrew Cook, Dr Katie Gillies, Professor Freddie Hamdy, Professor Ian Harris, Dr Naomi Lee, Professor Stefan Lohmander, Professor Amar Rangan, Professor Barney Reeves and Dr Sam Rowley. Dr Carol Brennan and Mr Dair Farrah-Hockley kindly attended as patient representatives. Dr Sian Cousins and Dr Natalie Blencowe kindly took detailed cross-referenced notes throughout and recorded the workshop discussions. Ms Katie Chegwin was responsible for the administration and organisation of the workshop, editing of the manuscript and is thanked for her assistance. Near-complete versions of the report were also sent to Professor Marion Campbell, Professor Jonathan Cook and Professor Manuela Ferreira for additional review, comment and edit.721602550engGASTROESOPHAGEAL-REFLUX DISEASEOBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP-APNEALASER PHOTO-COAGULATIONMAMMARY-ARTERY LIGATIONBLIND CONTROLLED-TRIALSHAM-CONTROLLED TRIALRANDOMIZED-TRIALENDOSCOPIC SPHINCTEROTOMYKNEE OSTEOARTHRITISGASTRIC BUBBLER MedicineRJournal article10.3310/hta255302553