The nature of the trial

The ABICUS trial is a randomised control trial where participants will be given either microfracture, or the ABICUS procedure as part of their treatment. Which treatment each person receives will be allocated randomly, to ensure a balanced test.

Both procedures are minimally invasive/arthroscopic, or ‘keyhole’, operations.

Microfracture involves making holes in the damaged subchondral bone; this leads to the formation of fibrocartilage which fills the defect in the cartilage.

The ABICUS procedure involves harvesting a patient’s own stem cells using a fine needle from the pelvis. The stem cells are concentrated and then mixed with a matrix of hyaluronic acid and then implanted into the cartilage defect via keyhole surgery.