Stitches for Facial Fat Transfer

Question

I've come across patient reviews that mention stitches in the face after facial fat transfer that result in scar tissue. Is it common to put stitches after the procedure? My understanding is that only very small incisions are made. Wouldn't they heal on their own?

Rajaie Hazboun, MD, MBA · Answer

Thank you for posting your question here!I am not sure what stitches the posts were talking about but i am going to weigh in on a couple of possible scenarios.
- fat repositioning with a lower blepharoplasty: In certain individuals with hollowness under their eyes when they undergo a lower blepharoplasty their surgeon might reposition the lower fat pads after freeing them rather than remove them to help fill that hollowness. For the first few days you want to fixate those fat pads in their new position so that they would stick and heal there as opposed to migrating and this can be done in a number of ways including possible external stitches. When those are done usually bolsters are used to offload tension from the skin and decrease scarring and they are usually removed within the first 7 days as not to leave marks , but they sometimes leave temporary marks due to the swelling around them.
- The other possibility could be the hemostatic net sutures , it is a way of avoiding a drain but at the same time decrease the chances of a hematoma or a seroma from forming , the surgeon after doing a facelift which can also be coupled with fat grafting might place a running external suture to obliterate the dead space created by the surgery so less blood or fluid accumulates, those sutures are usually removed within 72 hrs and usually don't leave permanent marks , but might leave temporary ones.
usually for just fat grafting either no stitches are placed or a single small stitch is placed at the entry site which is removed within 7 days and doesn't usually leave a scar. That being said people heal differently and some might be an exception to the above mentioned scenarios.
I hope this helps, best of luck

Stitches for Facial Fat Transfer

Answers (1)

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