But Falcons rugby director Steve Bates has revealed the scheduled procedure has already taken place.

Bates said: “As was always the plan, the back-up to the original operation was to have an arthroscopy, which took place in the north-east a couple of weeks ago.

“That was to assess whether the initial operation had been a success.

“The surgeon who did that original operation is saying that everything looks okay to proceed on to the next stage of his rehabilitation, which will involve making sure that strengthening, flexibility and all those sorts of issues are dealt with.

“That has a timescale all of its own, depending on how he responds, but at least the initial hurdle seems to have been overcome.

“There was always going to be a little doubt about whether the original operation had been a success, as with all operations.

“Now that we are hopefully past that stage, it’s just a case of continually monitoring how he progresses, rather than now giving a timescale of when he will be back playing.”

Wilkinson, who has seen Danny Cipriani and Toby Flood take over England fly-half duties during the second half of this year, is battling to be fit for the 2009 RBS 6 Nations.

England kick-off their campaign against Italy at Twickenham on February 7, when 29-year-old Wilkinson is likely still to be sidelined.

Wilkinson, England’s record scorer with 1,032 points in 70 Tests, last played international rugby nine months ago when he went on as a replacement for Flood during the 33-10 victory over Ireland.

His career has been blighted by repeated injury setbacks since landing the drop-goal that saw England beat Australia in the 2003 World Cup final in Sydney.