Fat Transfer to the Ankles?

Question

If you have small ankles, can you have the fat removed from your stomach place in your ankles to make them thicker?

Steven H. Williams, MD · Answer

Thanks for your question -
Successful fat grafting requires fat viability.  This means that the fat must be harvested in a way to insure that it survives and that it must be placed in areas that will encourage rapid neovascularization of the transplanted fat.
The ankles can be challenging because fat transfer below the knees is associated with higher complications (reduced fat survival, increased infection).  Scars or irregular contour deformities will be easier to correct than a general "thin ankle".  You may risk contour deformities because there aren't significant amounts of muscle or fat to camoflauge fat transfer.
Be sure to speak to a board certified plastic surgeon with experience with this technique.

Mario Diana, MD · Answer

Depending on the tightness of the skin in the lower part of the leg, a complete correction can be obtained with one or multiple sessions of fat transfer.

	The amount of fat that can be moved to this area is only restricted by the firmness of the tissues.  The tighter the tissues, the less fat can be moved in one procedure.

	However, even in cases of very tight skin, additional procedures can be performed at 6 weeks intervals that will lead to complete correction.

Parham Ganchi, PhD, MD · Answer

We use fat grafting on the face and on the body regularly. It is an excellent technique. However, there are areas that are better recipients than others. The ankles are relatively poor recipients for the fat. The skin is tight and there is little supportive tissue for the fat. However, this doesn't mean it will not work. The key is to plan on injecting the area several times to build up volume over time. This strategy can work very nicely. Good luck.

Hisham Seify, MD, PhD, FACS · Answer

Fat grafting is a very useful technique in augmenting tissues in different areas. The ankle is a very tight area, however, fat could be injected conservatively to help in augmenting the tissues.

Fat Transfer to the Ankles?

Answers (4)

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