Practice Advisory on Gluteal Fat Grafting

Abstract

On January 31, 2018, The Multi-Society Task Force for Safety in Gluteal Fat Grafting released a Practice Advisory regarding gluteal fat grafting. The Task Force was assembled in the wake of several highly publicized patient deaths involving Brazilian Butt Lift ("BBL") and produced a second practice advisory in August 2019. In 2021 the ASAPS President commissioned a Working Group on BBL Patient Safety, charging the Group to address new guidelines affecting safety and welfare of BBL patients. The "Practice Advisory on Gluteal Fat Grafting" is the first advisory developed since the Working Group was formed. In addition to surgical technique as a major cause of fatal complications of BBL, the Working Group focused on micro-economic trends of operative time and regional BBL pricing and considered fatigue and distraction in formulating the current guidelines. In Florida the majority of BBL deaths occur at the end of the week. Such a non-normalized distribution most likely represents the result of fatigue and/or distraction, which has been linked to surgical mortality in multiple published communications. In addition, mortality is likely due to uncertainty or lack of documentation as to the correct plane of fat injection. Therefore, the newest and most compelling recommendations from these guidelines include the use of ultrasound-guided documentation of cannula placement prior to and during fat injection, and the limitation of 3 BBL cases as a maximum amount of total operative cases per day. The authors thank members of the Task Force for the insights they brought to this process.