Dr. Steven R COHEN
Plastic Surgeon
Why are you still using techniques from 1984 in facial fat grafting?
Objectives: 1. Demonstrate how newer advances in fat grafting techniques as well as in our understanding of the cellular contents of adipose
2. Show objective findings of 2 year outcomes to convince others to adopt more anatomic and regenerative approaches to fat grafting
3. Help colleagues understand how to diagnose losses in fat compartments and evaluate the face for contemporary fat grafting.
Introduction: The use of fat grafting techniques has evolved over the years, and while some methods may have originated in the 1980s, advancements in medical research and technology have led to more sophisticated approaches. Fat grafting, also known as autologous fat transfer, involves harvesting fat from one part of the body and injecting it into another to enhance volume, contour, or promote tissue regeneration.
While the basic concept has been around for several decades, recent years have seen significant progress in understanding the regenerative properties of fat and refining the techniques.
Materials / method: Fat grafting techniques have evolved in many areas including harvest, processing and technical aspects of injection. We review objective studies of newer techniques and make recommendations of the ideal approaches to optimize results.
Results: Studies have shown objectively the volumetric improvement in facial tissues is progressive and results in anywhere from 25% to 80% volumetric improvement up to 2 years after anatomic and regenerative facial fat grafting. Processing techniques alone do not account for the increases in volumetric improvement. Moreover, we have objectively shown significant improvement in the rates of healing as well as in the aesthetic outcomes when cell optimized nanofat (mechanical SVF) are utilized in addition to fractional lasers.
Conclusion: New techniques of anatomic and regenerative facial fat grafting have achieved far superior results to traditional fat grafting techniques introduced in the 1980's. Practicioners are encourage to apply these techniques in order to optimize patient outcomes.
