Anybody had or know anything about knuckle replacement surgery?

I have OA in most of my body but it is worst in my right hand and particularly the bottom joint of my index finger. So far I have had one steroid injection into the knuckle which worked like a miracle - it was like I had a new hand - but it only lasted 10 weeks and then wore off. I am scheduled for another in April but my consultant says he cannot do any more after that. I enquired about surgery and he said that knuckle replacement is really for those whose OA is so bad that it's a last resort and I wasn't at that point yet! However, he did say that there was a fairly new procedure possibly available to me where they take tissue from the soft pad on the palm of the hand at the back of the knuckle and use that to stuff the joint to help ease the pain. Because it is your own tissue it grows into the joint and is less invasive than replacing with metal and plastic bits. It can be used as a stop gap until things are so bad you qualify for a replacement. Anybody heard of this or have experience of this?