Fat Transfer

Fat Transfer (also known as, platelet injection fat transfer, fatinjection or fatgrafting) is a procedure that uses the patient`s own fat to increase the volume of fat in your selected area of the body.  It is a minimally invasive procedure.

In 2009, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons concluded in their Guiding Principles that fat grafting is a safe method of augmentation and correction.

The History

When liposuction procedures became more widely available in the 1980’s, fat also became more easily extracted from the body. In 1984, Mel Bircoll M.D. introduced micro injection of fat, using liposuction.  This advancement allowed more plastic, dermatological and cosmetic doctors to offer patients fat transfer for cosmetic reasons. Most maintain that an advantage of fat transfer is that it is the patient's own tissue and, therefore, not subject to rejection by the body.  Additional advantages compared to other dermal fillers, is that they are absorbed by the body within three to nine months, making regular filler injections a continuing expense.

The fat transfer procedure consists of harvesting the fat from one part of the body where a surplus of fat exists then placing it it in another part of the body where the additional bulk is used for aesthetic and cosmetic purposes.

Fat transfer is being used in cosmetic plastic procedures to:

• Smooth and repair aged hands
• Fill wrinkled, creased faces
• Create more shapely, curvaceous buttocks (Brazilian Butt lift)
• Enlarge breasts

How it Works

Fat is aspirated from the patient in one of two ways: with a liposuction cannula or with a syringe that has a large-bore needle.  The fat is prepared using a method that reduces the fat to a “caviar” like substance then is injected into the patient’s recipient area.  The preparation process removes the donor fat of blood, lidocaine and other unwanted ingredients that could cause rejection or other side effects.

Depending on the patient and several other factors, the body is reported to reabsorb anywhere from 20-40 percent of transferred fat. 

In most procedures, fat injections are placed through several different layers of muscle and muscle, fat and skin to provide an optimal chance for the fat cells to find a nearby blood supply. Because some fat is always absorbed, most physicians initially inject between 30 – 40 percent more.

Fat Transfer Areas

·       Hand Rejuvenation

A wrinkled, bony hand with deep creases or folds can make evident an advanced age even though the patient’s external appearance has been rejuvenated through additional cosmetic procedures.  As a result, plastic, dermatological and cosmetic doctors have expanded techniques to make hands also look younger.  A few practitioners use dermal fillers like Restylane and Juvederm but find the longer lasting method proves to be fat transfer via injection which is reported to last for years.  Pricing

·       Facial Rejuvenation

A syringe or Vaser liposuction is used to harvest the fat and prepare it for transfer. The fat is then injected into the portion of the face where needed.   Using a micro injection technique, fat is placed into multiple layers of the face. Pricing

Common facial locations for fat transfer include:

• Filling in sunken areas beneath the eyes
• Filling in the folds of skin, the deep wrinkles next to the mouth often referred to as “laugh lines” that physicians know as nasolabial folds
• Filling in forehead creases
• Cheek Augmentation

·       Buttocks Enlargement (Brazilian Butt Lift)

Women and a growing number of men want a rounder, curvier and shapelier bottom. While thin patients must opt for insertion of buttocks implants to fill out their derrière, patients who can spare the fat can undergo fat transfer as an outpatient procedure often referred to as the Brazilian butt lift. Inserting through small incisions into each gluteal cheek, the doctor places fat at dozens of levels throughout the patient’s rear. It’s a precise procedure.  The droplet of fat are placed in long rows. After the procedure, the patient must wear a compression garment for about six weeks and sleep on the stomach for about a week. In most cases, non-athletic activities and driving can be resumed in about five days. Pricing

·       Breast Enlargement

Fat transfer to enlarge female breasts can be performed for many cosmetic reasons, for breast enlargement, to correct breast asymmetry, tuberous breast, a condition in which the adult breasts fail to develop in puberty and result in extremely small, narrow and sagging breasts, or to correct Polands Syndrome, a rare birth defect characterized by underdevelopment or absence of the chest muscle (pectoralis) on one side of the body.

Patients have reported that improvements in the size and shape of the breasts are possible with fat transfer. 

In this procedure, the doctor will harvest donor fat after Vaser Lipo is preformed, centrifuge it for refinement and to screen out impurities. Then, in a three- to four-hour procedure, the fat is injected into the layers of the breast through five to seven, two-millimeter incisions in each breast.  Blunt syringes and cannulas are used to inject the fat so that no damage is done to nerves or blood vessels. The fat is layered from the pectoralis major muscle up through the top of the breast; the doctor relies on the fat injections to shape the breasts for a natural-looking, aesthetic result. Pricing

Results

Because the doctor must inject too much fat to allow for re-absorption, the overcorrection can make the patient’s area look too plump or swollen for about a week. However, many patients are able to return to their normal, but not vigorous, activities immediately. Most notice minimal, if any bruising, swelling, and redness in the donor and injection sites. Final results can be expected approximately three months post treatment.  Results from patients and physicians place the durability of fat injections anywhere from half a year up to eight years.

Risks and Side Effects

Fat transfer remains controversial although many plastic, dermatology and cosmetic doctors offer various fat transfer procedures to their patients because the procedure is so well received by patients.

Potential risks of any fat transfer include fluid collection, or seroma, bleeding or hematoma, (a pool of blood forming under the skin), infection, nerve damage or wound dehiscence, when a surgical wound opens.  While all are normally easily controlled and healed, other complications can arise.

Overall, the survival of transferred fat seems to depend on how the physician harvests the fat, the technique used to treat the fat and how the fat cells are put back into the patient and the site to which the fat was removed.  Fat survives equally well when removed with suction via Vaser Liposuction or when withdrawn by a syringe. Pricing

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