Eight Years of Fat Transplantation Experience

Abstract

Introduction: I have used fat as a transplantation filler following liposuction approximately 8 years. Six years ago, I began freezing fat to be used later. The results of both frozen and fresh fat as transplant material is dependent on many variables, not the least of which is technique. I describe the background of this procedure, its evolution, my personal techniques, and the results. Materials and Methods: For this study, only 30 randomly chosen patients who could be followed for at least 6 months were considered. Twenty-eight patients received fresh fat transferred at the time of surgery. Fourteen patients received frozen fat. Five patients received a second injection of frozen fat. Three received 3 or more injections. Two patients received frozen fat injected as the initial filler. One patient received a subsequent injection of frozen fat. My technique for harvesting fat either to be used as fresh transplant material or later as frozen transplant material is the same. Tumescent infiltration is carried out using the standard Klein solution, 0.05% lidocaine, in normal saline with 1:1000000 epinephrine. Originally a 2- or 2.5-mm cannula with a 35 mL or 60-mL syringe technique was used; however, recently, the Coleman harvesting needle and 10-mL syringe have been used. The fat is stored in 5- and 10 mL syringes. Conclusion: I have found fat to be an acceptable filler for both congenital and surgical defects as well as a good method for augmentation. I found frozen fat to survive as well as fresh fat.