I had an appoint with my Dr. and he proposed doing a fat transfer to help with depressed scars (which he created doing a botched DeepFX laser procedure). He was proposing to correct the scars, correct the under eye and other facial areas to help correct the fat loss and the traumatic damage done by the laser.
I asked him if he planned to add Platelet Rich Plasma to the fat (an increasingly popular protocol). He said no; that he would use the fat straight as it came out of the body. No centrifuge or anything. He felt that the less you did the better.
From the research I’ve done, centrifuging the fat is a standard approach. Introducing fat with body fluids would seem to increase inflammation and reduce effectiveness. Plus, I am concerned that the uncentrifuged fat would be difficult to apply smoothly in the undereye area without the smoothing effects of the centrifuge.
I was also worried when he said I would be very swollen for a week (i.e. he stressed I would have to stay home) with obvious swelling for at least two weeks. He stressed the difficulty of the recovery. My gut tells me to not do it, even though I could use the improvement in my scars.
Please let me know your opinion of using fat straight form the body; am I off base my reacting so negatively to this approach? I think I may need to find a new doctor since he botched a laser procedure then the there's a possibility of a botched fat transfer!
Thank you for you insights, Dave
Answers (14)
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March 2, 2009
Answer: Just like every powerful tool, the impact comes from the craftsman, not the tool.
Fat grafting (using the patient's own fat, from the abdomen or hips) to help restore soft tissue volume around the eyes. I often perform fat grafting in the upper eyelid area to fill in hollows that occur from age, genetics or previous eyelid surgery.
Too often upper blepharoplasty leaves...
Dear CLN,
Fat that is frozen is essentially dead fat. It can be injected at a later date, but its viability will be short lived. In other words, you may appreciate a volume increase for a short period, but it will quickly dissipate.
The harvest, processing and injection of fat is surgeon dependent and hardly proprietary. If any of those steps are done in a way that decreses the survival of fat then you can get fat dissolution irrespective of the system. It is imprtant to find a board certified plastic surgeon that has...
