Fat Transfer to Breast Completely Failed with Mastitis, All Fat Drained out? Anyone have this experience/suggestion?

Question

Had fat transfer to breasts problem w/1. 400cc injected as per PS. Week after surgery,had pain put me on 2 antibiotics due to mastitis. He extracted ~100cc in two sesions and 2 wks all drained out,What could be done about this, now they are lopsided (C in one,A in other) w/huge scar/hole/redness in the other. What could have really caused this other than injected too much causing cells to die; all liquified/oozed out, Anyone have this experience/suggestion?I can't afford another surgery,feel handicapped

Alan M. Engler, MD, FACS (retired) · Answer

I am obviously sorry to hear about the problem you had...infection is, unfortunately, a known complication of this and any other surgery.  An additional concern with fat transplantation is the percent survival of the fat; it can be variable.  So whether as a result of infection (yours is an extreme case) or not, asymmetry is a possible aftereffect of this procedure.

	My advice would be to wait and let it settle down (at least three months; possibly longer) and then have additional fat injected into the smaller breast.  You may find that the larger breast has become smaller and that the difference is not as great as it appears now.  Six months is probably even better if you can wait that long.  At any rate, the effects of the infection have to be completely dissipated by the time you undergo another procedure.

	I hope that this helps and good luck,

	Dr. E

Vincent D. Lepore, MD (retired) · Answer

I am sorry to hear that you developed a mastitis infection following a fat transfer procedure to your breasts.  Unfortunately, there is a risk of post operative infection associated with any surgery, including fat transfer.  An infection can occur even if both your surgeon and you did everything correctly, and no surgeon, with significant experience, can claim that they have not experienced a complication associated with a post operative infection.  Although you may want a reason as to what caused the mastitis, this may be impossible to determine.  My best advise to you would be to try to work with your surgeon in setting up plan to move forward.  They will probably want to wait a period of 6 to 12 months before proceeding with any secondary surgery, as it will take time for the infection and resulting scarring to subside.  It may be difficult to follow this suggestion but it is in your best interest to work with him/her.  Best wishes.

Fat Transfer to Breast Completely Failed with Mastitis, All Fat Drained out? Anyone have this experience/suggestion?

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Fat Transfer to Breast Completely Failed with Mastitis, All Fat Drained out? Anyone have this experience/suggestion?

Answers (2)

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Everything you need to know about Breast Fat Transfer

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.