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EXPENSIVE surgery to repair worn-out joints could become a thing of the past as Welsh experts have made a discovery that could transform the treatment of arthritic conditions.

Professors John Fairclough and Charlie Archer have shown for the first time that the knee has the ability to heal itself.

And they believe that the knee could be capable of re-growing any damaged part of its surface.

The breakthrough could eventually mean that patients do not need to undergo major surgery to have their knees resurfaced or replaced with artificial joints.

Instead the knee could be encouraged to heal itself internally with some help from orthopaedic experts.

Prof Fairclough, based at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff’s school of sport, said: “As we all know, growing old is not easy – the athletic body of our youth transforms, no longer able to tolerate the vigorous exercise of our early years.

“We get stiffer, we slow down we begin to ache. For many our joints begin to become painful and start to first reduce our ability to exercise easily and then cause pain and limit function.

“Each year in the UK there are more than five million consultations related to knee pain and the Holy Grail for all medical and sports participants is to be able to measure joint wear and to stop its progression and as a goal re-grow any damaged part of the joint surface.”

Damage to knees is caused when the surface of the joint wears away, and bone rubs on bone.

It was always assumed that once the joint surface had worn away, it could not be replaced naturally by the body.

But the research, conducted at Uwic and at Cardiff University, found that the bone, instead of being completely dead, still contained living pieces of cartilage.

Prof Fairclough, who is also a consultant orthopaedic knee and sports surgeon at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, said: “Through a combination of work at Uwic and Cardiff University, we have discovered these cells can regrow the surface that was lost.

“We now know that it is possible that joints which are wearing away have the potential to recover. This is the first time that we have shown that a knee can do this.”

But instead of growing these cells in a laboratory and implanting them back into the knee, it is thought that the joint will be able to re-heal itself, provided that the bones and muscles are properly aligned.

“We have been able to look at the muscles and have shown that the problems seem to start with the way that the bones are angled.

“The object of the research that myself and Prof Archer are undertaking is to show that these cells can regrow if we can alter the environment in the knee.

“We are now aware how important the muscles and the bone angles are in the wearing process of the knee; hopefully we can now show that we can resurface the knee by altering the angle of the bone.

“In the future we should be seeing people early enough so we can unlock the potential of their knee to repair itself, by doing something to alter the biomechanics of the joint.”

England rugby star Jonny Wilkinson, whose career has been plagued by injuries, has been seen by Prof Fairclough and his team in Cardiff recently to have his damaged knee realigned.

Prof Fairclough, who also works at the Spire Hospital in Cardiff, said the number 10 is recovering.