London Cartilage Clinic
Explore expert articles on cartilage care, regenerative treatments, and practical recovery advice from our specialist team.
At ten years, autologous chondrocyte implantation substantially outperforms mosaicplasty for large knee cartilage defects: the Bentley RCT found 17% treatment failure in ACI versus 55% in mosaicplasty, the only prospective randomised trial tracking outcomes across a decade.
Basal thumb arthritis leaves a therapeutic gap between temporary injections and irreversible surgery. ChondroFiller, an injectable collagen scaffold that recruits the patient's own cells to repair cartilage, showed sustained improvements in pain, grip strength, and daily function persisting beyond two years.
Microfracture produces fibrocartilage composed of type I collagen — suited to tension rather than compression — which progressively erodes under weight-bearing, causing functional decline in most patients by three years.
ChondroFiller recruits the patient's own progenitor cells to regenerate cartilage tissue, a mechanism distinct from standard lubricant or anti-inflammatory products. London Cartilage Clinic charges £3,000–£8,000 all-inclusive.
STACI performs cartilage repair within a single operation, eliminating the weeks between harvest and implantation when conventional two-stage approaches leave defects unprotected. Evidence is promising but early, lacking head-to-head randomised comparison with established methods.
Type I collagen injected under ultrasound recruits the patient's own hip cartilage cells to repair worn surfaces — without the defect-size restrictions of surgical approaches. The outpatient procedure suits 'bone-on-bone' osteoarthritis, with biological repair unfolding over six to 24 months.
