How Long Does Fat Last After Harvesting?

Question

If I have Liposuction, and some of the fat is stored for use in other areas (ie. cheeks, lips, or under the eyes), will it still be safe or good for injection 3 months after it was stored? I would like to consider having liposuction on my inner thighs, and have some of it placed in my cheeks, then wait another 3-4 months to have it touched up with the original fat from the first procedure.

Michael Law, MD · Answer

Fat Grafting requires specialized training and specialized surgical instruments, as well as patience and attention to detail on the part of the surgeon. Fat that has been collected through tradtional liposuction will not be viable for lasting fat grafts.  A relatively new technique, structural fat grafting, in which small amounts (less than 0.1 cc at a time) of fat are carefully microinjected in a series of discrete layers to gradually 'build' new soft tissue structure.
As there is space between each microinjection, new blood vessels are able to grow into the grafted fat, allowing it to persist. If this process of blood vessel ingrowth (neovascularization) does not occur, then the injected tissue cannot truly be considered a 'graft' and is instead just another 'soft tissue filler' of limited duration.  Fat harvested for fat grafting must be used immediately. Fat that is frozen or stored will not be viable even if it is harvested properly.

Tim Neavin, MD · Answer

Fat is living tissue.  There are no good, practical  ways to store it.  It should be transferred during the time it is harvested.

Johnny Franco, MD, FACS · Answer

Unfortunately you cannot store your fat to used three months
later.  The fat will not be usable at
that time. Storing the fat and trying to use it at a later date will be a
set-up for problems.  If you need more
fat at a later time then you will need your surgeon to liposuction another
area.  Typically for augmentation of the
cheeks patients do not need that much fat, so it should not be an issue to
harvest more fat.  Just like any liposuction
procedure, this does not prevent your body from being able to put on
weight.

With the fat transfer patients typically lose about 30% of
the fat that is initially transferred however the fat that is present six
months post-op will remain as long as your weight is stable.  If you lose weight you can lose some of the
transferred fat, and if you gain weight you can increase the size of your
buttock.  The benefit of the fat transfer
is that the fat is your own and acts just like the fat in other parts of your
body.

If you are at a healthy weight and maintain that you will be
able to enjoy your results for year to come.

When considering this procedure it is very important that
you have your procedure performed by a board certified plastic surgeon.

I hope this helps.

Kurtis Martin, MD · Answer

The harvested fat must be grafted in a few hours or most of it will die. Frozen fat is not recommended as a large percent of the cells die as well. Best to use fresh fat with each graft.

Larry S. Nichter, MD, MS, FACS · Answer

Frozen Fat Transfer - Possible but not in your best interest. First of all it must be done in absolute sterile conditions using a protocol and utilizing a company that specializes in stored fat.

	Freezing fat is not a standard procedure and should be viewed as experimental. In short, is not in your best interest. The reason is that as a rule, the longer the fat is outside your body the more of a chance there is of fat cell death, infection from contamination, and less chance of survival. The best chance for maximum fat survival is immediate fat transfer. Even then there is incomplete survival.

	 

	Remember there is Zeltiq CoolScultpting which essentially cools fat in your body externally to make fat cells die early. It therefore doesn't make sense that cooling fat will also increase the survival of fat. See a board certified plastic surgeon with experience in this technique

Daniel Reichner, MD, FACS · Answer

Fat that is harvested for transfer should be used right away. Stored fat has unpredictable survival and there is always a concern about bacterial contamination or "sterility" of a biological product stored under conditions which have poorly defined industry standards -- especially in a private clinic setting.

Darrick E. Antell, MD, FACS · Answer

In my opinion, the best place to store fat is in your body. I would recommend doing the initial procedure, and if you need an additional injection of fat, I would re-harvest fat from you at that time. The survival would be far superior to fat stored in a freezer and it would eliminate the possibility of mixing up your fat with someone else's that may have been stored in a freezer.

Toby Mayer, MD · Answer

The fat that is stored is usually not as long-lasting as fresh fat. Unless you are extremely thin, there is always some fat available in other parts of the body for fresh fat transfer. This is easily done with local anesthesia and is preferrable to frozen fat.

Brent Moelleken, MD · Answer

The question is how viable was it when it was first harvested.  The number drops steadily from there over time.
In our published studies, we found 20-25% viability of fat cells immediately after harvest.  Other studies have shown a slow decrease in live cells over time.
The effects of fat injection are twofold:  temporary volume replacement, and eventual permanent results.
Your temporary results may be the same with old fat or new fat, however the long term results will not be since fewer of the cells are alive, and fewer will eventually survive.

Otto Joseph Placik, MD · Answer

As easy as it is to put fat on (gain weight), it is just as difficult to preserve and store. Fat cells are very delicate and easily die. That is why we generally over correct and over inject because we anticipate that some of the fat will not survive (this is approximately 50% on average).
There are some physicians who feel that saving the fat is worthwhile and can provide some long term survival. There are many different formulas and recipes and techniques for this. 
I have had research experience in the laboratory where fat cells were very difficult to grow and therefore very difficult to study. They are on of the least hardy cells to manage. Given this experience I am very skeptical about preserving fat in a clinical or office setting. 
Of course this is my opinion and I realize that other doctors may differ in their recommendations.
I hope this helps!

How Long Does Fat Last After Harvesting?

Answers (16)

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