Can facial fat transfer be done while one is awake? Say, with a mild sedative; no IV sedation, etc.

We specialize in local and IV sedation for all lipo and fat transfer cases.  Never used general in 29 years for these procedures as we feel it is not needed and is a risk not needed as well

Absolutely. Fat transfer to the face can be done under local anesthesia.The areas fat is going to be taken from will also need to be made numb in addition to the face. The face is easy to make numb and keep you comfortable. Harvesting the fat is done with liposuction and dilute local is used to numb the regions fat is taken from.As far as reliability, I believe roughly 50% of the fat placed remains. This is an important discussion as the procedure may need to be repeated to achieve your desired results.Good luck and I hope this is helpful.

Thank you for your question.

Fat transfer is a well established procedure that has been around for over a century and has been defined and improved in the past decade to provide “more reliable outcomes in the right hands”. The procedure can be done under local anesthesia, and is a very reliable procedure as long as it is done by an experienced plastic surgeon, with the right equipment and technique!

I frequently use fat grafting for my patients who wish to maintain a youthful look, without the constant need for “more and more fillers”. Patients usually have a downtime of a few days from the swelling and possible bruising which means more downtime than regular fillers but the results are long lasting.

 The benefits of fat grafting include the inclusion of ADRCs or adipocyte derived regenerative cells which have been shown to help improve scars and even radiation changes in the skin. The cells are your own natural cells so there is no chance for rejection and the procedure is performed with small cannulas which means no surgery or scars.

It is very important that you have an experienced Plastic Surgeon preforming this procedure since the fat cells need to be extracted, cleaned and placed with precision to maximize fat viability and aesthetic results.

Good Luck!

You can do a fat transfer with just local anesthesia.  You will have to be able to tolerate the injections of  full strength local anesthesia in a few places, which burn, but most of the anesthesia is what we call tumescent.  This is mostly saline, and burns very little when injected into both the area of harvest, and the face.  Most patients do well with fat transfer to the face. 

Fat transfer can be done under local anesthesia. This means that patient is completely awake but numb. Just like the dentist office. On occasion, when patient is nervous, we administer oral sedation like Valium or pain medication to relax them.The procedure is pain free, both harvesting of the fat and injecting it in the face. By the time you get home numbing goes away and you might have some aching in the harvest site, but never severe pain.Fat grafting, done right, is usually a very gratifying and artistic procedure. I tell my patients about 40% of fat will get absorbed within 3 months after the procedure. The 60% that stays, you own it for life. If you gain weight, you gain it everywhere including your face, if you lose weight it can also affect the results.

I have perform more than 99% of fat transfer procedures using either minimal sedation (the patient takes a Valium pill shortly before the procedure) and local anesthetic or using a only local anesthetic for over 25 years. Properly performed fat transfer has reliable, consistent results that I have documented lasting over two decades. Please review before and after results at the included Web reference.

 Almost every cosmetic surgical procedure can be done without General Anastasia.  In the end the choice of anesthesia depends on surgeons preference, patience preference to some degree and what is in the end most appropriate. People with high anxiety levels or low pain threshold do better with more robust forms of anesthetics. My practice is devoted exclusively to liposuction and fat transfer procedures. I do all of these with my patients awake using local anesthesia with mild sedation.  I'm very patient and well spend up to one hour simply anesthetizing my patients to be comfortable for the procedure. Granted this often involves full body procedures.   Impatient surgeons do not do well relying on local anesthesia.  often surgeons are in a hurry, operating time is expensive and putting patients to sleep and waking them up is simply easier for them and with their style of operating probably better for the patient.  Facial fat transfer can easily be done as an office-based procedure using local anesthesia with or without sedation.  In the end you should listen to your surgeon and follow his or her recommendations.  Best, Mats Hagstrom MD 

The simple answer is yes!  So go on some complimentary consultations with experts and compare recommendations after a full examination and discussion of desired results and become fully informed about the desired procedure Dr Corbin

Yes, it is possible to perform facial fat transfer with a mild sedative and local anesthesia.  The procedure usually takes less than an hour to perform and is performed on an outpatient basis.  seek out a board certified plastic surgeon who has extensive fat transfer experience.  Best wishes, Dr. Lepore.