Stem cell trials for hip replacements

A team from the universities of Southampton and Nottingham believe that introducing patients' own skeletal stem cells into hip joints during bone grafting could encourage more successful regrowth and repair.

Traditionally, grafting is used to repair the thigh bone and joint during replacement or similar treatments, where surgeons introduce donor bone to the damaged area to support for a new hip stem.

In the study, researchers will use adult stem cells from bone marrow in combination with a new impacted process and polymer supports to see if it works.

Provisional work from Southampton shows that the polymers can aid bone formation by creating a living cell material and help hip implants become attached.

The two-year research, funded by the Medical Research Council, is to see if the procedure works.

"Surgeons currently use bone from donors during bone grafting, so introducing a patient's own stem cells to create a living cell or material composite would be a totally new approach," said study leader Professor Richard Oreffo.