Is the procedure done under general anesthesia or can it be local? How long can it last and what prolongs its half life? Can prp help? I also read somewhere that even if the fat goes away, 1/3 remains. Is this true? Does that mean if it's done multiple times it will last longer?
Answer: Permanence of fat transfers Facial fat grafting tends to have a higher percentage of the fat survive than does grafting in other areas of the body. Any facial fat that remains after 3 months or so has an established blood supply and will continue to live. Some of the fat grafted will be lost, but about 70 to 90% of the fat grafted to the face should live. In other areas of the body, about 50 to 75% of the fat injected survives after fat grafting. This fat will continue to stay with you and will act like the rest of your body's fat. Occasionally, someone can resorb a great deal of the fat despite optimal transfer procedures. Sometimes a repeat session will produce a very nice result. In almost all cases, I prefer general over local anesthesia.Kenneth Hughes, MD, Board Certified Plastic SurgeonLos Angeles
Helpful
Answer: Permanence of fat transfers Facial fat grafting tends to have a higher percentage of the fat survive than does grafting in other areas of the body. Any facial fat that remains after 3 months or so has an established blood supply and will continue to live. Some of the fat grafted will be lost, but about 70 to 90% of the fat grafted to the face should live. In other areas of the body, about 50 to 75% of the fat injected survives after fat grafting. This fat will continue to stay with you and will act like the rest of your body's fat. Occasionally, someone can resorb a great deal of the fat despite optimal transfer procedures. Sometimes a repeat session will produce a very nice result. In almost all cases, I prefer general over local anesthesia.Kenneth Hughes, MD, Board Certified Plastic SurgeonLos Angeles
Helpful
July 11, 2017
Answer: Fat Transfer Fat transfer is a permanent correction. However the amount of fat that survives depends on a number of factors. These include:1) Location of injection. Fat survives better in buttocks than breasts or face2) The fat harvesting method. The more gentle the fat harvesting, the better the fat cells for transfer3) The injection method. Micrografting is the method of choice for optimal fat survival.4) There are many other factors at play and ultimately your choice of plastic surgeon and what he does and how he or she does it is as important as any of these factors.
Helpful
July 11, 2017
Answer: Fat Transfer Fat transfer is a permanent correction. However the amount of fat that survives depends on a number of factors. These include:1) Location of injection. Fat survives better in buttocks than breasts or face2) The fat harvesting method. The more gentle the fat harvesting, the better the fat cells for transfer3) The injection method. Micrografting is the method of choice for optimal fat survival.4) There are many other factors at play and ultimately your choice of plastic surgeon and what he does and how he or she does it is as important as any of these factors.
Helpful
July 9, 2017
Answer: Fat transfer results--water-assisted harvesting, prp, sculptra Fat transfer results are permanent, but not all fat will survive. Harvesting is important to fat transfer. Yes, I use water-assisted fat harvesting which gives pure fat to transfer and combine with platelet rich plasma (PRP) to get the most viable and sustainable fat cells. This can be combined with Sculptra, depending on treated area, to improve outcomes. I recommend getting a formal evaluation with an expert. Best, Dr. Emer
Helpful
July 9, 2017
Answer: Fat transfer results--water-assisted harvesting, prp, sculptra Fat transfer results are permanent, but not all fat will survive. Harvesting is important to fat transfer. Yes, I use water-assisted fat harvesting which gives pure fat to transfer and combine with platelet rich plasma (PRP) to get the most viable and sustainable fat cells. This can be combined with Sculptra, depending on treated area, to improve outcomes. I recommend getting a formal evaluation with an expert. Best, Dr. Emer
Helpful
July 10, 2017
Answer: How long does fat grafting last Fat grafting is considered a permanent treatment for autologous augmentation. It can be performed under local or general anesthesia. Fat grafting techniques vary, and as such so do the results. I use a small cannula to harvest, and inject with a 1 mm cannula in most cases. The fat is placed in a centrifuge and spun for a minute to remove any blood or serum which is not valuable in the transfer process. The use of additives such as PRP or other signaling materials have not been shown to clearly enhance fat grafting results. However, in situations where a patient is particularly lean, there may be some possible improvement in results. Simply put, if a patient has difficulty "holding onto fat", an additional substrate such as PRP may have benefit, but we simply don't have enough experience or ways to consistently measure these results to know the answer.
Helpful
July 10, 2017
Answer: How long does fat grafting last Fat grafting is considered a permanent treatment for autologous augmentation. It can be performed under local or general anesthesia. Fat grafting techniques vary, and as such so do the results. I use a small cannula to harvest, and inject with a 1 mm cannula in most cases. The fat is placed in a centrifuge and spun for a minute to remove any blood or serum which is not valuable in the transfer process. The use of additives such as PRP or other signaling materials have not been shown to clearly enhance fat grafting results. However, in situations where a patient is particularly lean, there may be some possible improvement in results. Simply put, if a patient has difficulty "holding onto fat", an additional substrate such as PRP may have benefit, but we simply don't have enough experience or ways to consistently measure these results to know the answer.
Helpful
July 8, 2017
Answer: How long do fat transfers usually last? And can PRP help it last longer? Thank you for your questions. The viability of transferred fat depends on the surgeon technique, the patient factors, the location, and several other factors. Sometimes it can be done under local but I prefer to do most fat transfer procedures under general anesthesia. The fat that survives is considered to be permanent but the percentage that survives depends on several factors as well. Multiple procedures are done to improve volume of fat transferred and viability, not the length of time.Bottom line, make sure you are seeing a local board certified plastic surgeon. Hope this helps!
Helpful
July 8, 2017
Answer: How long do fat transfers usually last? And can PRP help it last longer? Thank you for your questions. The viability of transferred fat depends on the surgeon technique, the patient factors, the location, and several other factors. Sometimes it can be done under local but I prefer to do most fat transfer procedures under general anesthesia. The fat that survives is considered to be permanent but the percentage that survives depends on several factors as well. Multiple procedures are done to improve volume of fat transferred and viability, not the length of time.Bottom line, make sure you are seeing a local board certified plastic surgeon. Hope this helps!
Helpful
