Does the type/method of lipo affect the survival rate for fat transfer?

Question

Does the type/method of lipo affect the survival rate for fat transfer? I've heard Vaser lipo will Jill most of the day cells and traditional liposuction is best. I've seen amazing laser lipo results from one surgeon with minimal breast fat transfer results, and incredible breast FT results (full cup) with lackluster lipo results using regular lipo. Is one better than the other?

George Marosan, MD · Answer

Thank you for your question. The type of liposuction used  (traditional vs VASER vs Laser vs water jet vs PAL) does matter and the surgeon's technique matters. From these answers, you can see that not all surgeons have good or even marginal understanding of these technologies. The ones not familiar with it , make negative comments based on their imagination or what they red 20 years ago. I agree with Dr. Emer, that VASER Hi Def Lipo technique is the best for harvesting and sculpting and fat survival. All this in the well trained surgeon's hands who have extensive training and experience. Not everyone who owns a VASER or other technologies can use them optimally. That is why there are some negative comments about these, when the patient choose to go to an inexperienced surgeon who offers these technologies with minimal training and experience, but at a very low cost.
See a board certified plastic surgeon experienced in advanced body sculpting techniques for an in person consultation/evaluation.

John L. Burns Jr., MD · Answer

By definition, modalities that pretreat fat such as laser (SmartLipo,SlimLipo) or ultrasound (VASER) are designed to destroy fat cell and the connective tissue around them making extraction a smoother and easier process.  Fat transfer depends on the transfer of non-traumatized fat cell which will hopefully survive transfer from donor to recipient site.  Standard tumescent liposuction using a 1:1 ratio and gentle lower negitive pressure liposuction technique will ensure better graft survival.  Adding an energy source such as laser or ultrasound will only compromise adipocyte viability.

Zoran Potparic, MD · Answer

That is a question that plastic surgery community is trying to answer for at least 30-35 years. There are too many variables when it comes to fat transfer and fat graft survival, that it is very difficult to evaluate each component; way of fat harvest (type of liposuction) fat graft preparation, injection technique, area of injection and, in particular, patient herself (himself). Hope this helps.

Jason Emer, MD · Answer

yes the type of harvesting does affect the fat uptake and survival but your information is wrong. body jet and vaser have the HIGHEST rate of take and success especially if used with purgraft. laser kills fat so shouldnt ever be used.  hyperbaric oxygen therapy after really helps survival. we are also finding the peptides can really help as well (see link).

my whole practice is doing lipoabdominoplasty, or at least liposuction with internal heating (which is not the gold standard for skin tightening with body contouring).

the smaller you are before liposuction the more contouring you can get from the procedure. most of my liposuction patients get pre and post surgical optimization with hormonal therapy (see link to help boost their weight loss before surgery and help them heal after).

You need a formal evaluation by an expert in body shaping and contouring to determine what is best.  Traditional liposuction awake and smart liposuction are old methods and do very poorly for tightening skin or significant skin tightening or contouring.  Small problem areas can be improved slightly by these methods.  The best in body contouring not only removes fat with energy devices like VASER ultrasound but also internally heat the skin with radio-frequency devices such as J PLASMA/RENUVION, InMode BodyTite, ThermiRF to heat the under surface of the skin and tighten it at the same time as fat removal. These combinations are called 4D HIDEF VASER contouring and can only be done by a well . trained body contouring specialist. At the same time fat should be harvested, PRP and stem cells added and injected into muscles or indentations/cellulite to get body shaping and contouring.  This is known as a Brazilian butt lift when you inject the fat to the buttock for contouring and lifting, but fat can also be used in areas such as the chest/breast, arms/shoulders, calves and face.  Cellulite should also be treated with cellfina, sculptra, subcision and/or fillers such as bellafill, renuva synthetic fat, or sculptra.  If skin is very loose before surgery then it will need to be removed such as lower abdominal skin (tummy tuck/abdominoplasty), breast skin (breast lift), arm skin (brachioplasty).  Overall you need a full assessment, but simple liposuction alone will not tighten skin and needs a combination of various methods -- fat removal, skin tightening, defining, fat grafting, skin removal -- to get the best in body contouring and body sculpting.  Dr. Emer.

Daniel Barrett, MD · Answer

Dear Willowdale55,
fat viability depends a lot of surgeon technique. The fat has to be placed back into the buttocks as soon as possible so that it has a greater chance of survival. It has to be placed carefully so that not too much fat is placed in only one area.If you are considering a surgery, I would suggest you to consult a board-certified plastic surgeon. Only after a thorough examination you will get more information and recommendations.
Daniel Barrett, MD
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

Kenneth Hughes, MD · Answer

Many varieties of liposuction are available including ultrasonic, smart lipo, and conventional lipo. Liposuction provides a more consistent and predictable result than non-invasive treatments. However, the results depend less on the method used and more on the surgeon and the postoperative care. Consult via email or Skype with a board certified PS who is experienced in all these types of lipo.

Douglas Taranow, DO, FACOS · Answer

The type of liposuction used to obtain fat for a BBL does make a difference.  Using ultrasonic or laser liposuction techniques to obtain donor fat may not be the best procedure.  These methods use heat or sound waves to fracture or rupture fat cells prior to removal.  Cells that are traumatized using these methods are not as good as using standard traditional tumescent liposuction techniques which may cause less cell damage.

Mats Hagstrom, MD (license on probation) · Answer

The only variables that matter when it comes to the outcome of liposuction and fat transfer procedures are the candidacy of the individual patient and the skill and experience of the surgeon. If some equipment was clearly superior we would all be using it.

Fat transfer pictures are probably the easiest to enhance or manipulate by simply taking the pictures early after the procedure. Early postoperative pictures of fat transfer or not at all representative a final results. When interviewing plastic surgeons make sure that after pictures are always taken a minimum of three months from the date of the procedure. Showing early postoperative pictures is deceptive and it isn’t too hard to give a very impressive results.

Fat transfer pictures are probably the easiest to enhance or manipulate by simply taking the pictures early after the procedure. Early postoperative pictures of fat transfer are not at all representative a final results. When interviewing plastic surgeons make sure that after pictures are always taken a minimum of three months from the date of the procedure. Showing early postoperative pictures is deceptive and it isn’t too hard to give it very impressive results. Liposuction results also very greatly based on individual candacy of the patient. Perhaps the biggest variable in regards to candidacy is skin laxity but there are numerous.

Perhaps you should schedule a few more consultations. I suggest patient start with a least five consultations and consider having more if uncertain.

Best,

Mats Hagstrom MD
linea nova body contouring

Robert T. Buchanan, MD (retired) · Answer

Yes, the method of liposuction does, indeed, effect fat graft survival.  However, you can achieve good fat survival with different liposuction modalities.  You cannot, however, remove the fat the same way that you would do so if you were simply doing liposuction by itself.  Each method has to be varied in order to not injure the fat cells.  It is, therefore, not the specific type of liposuction, but the way that method is utilized that makes the difference.  Make certain that you see someone who can show you excellent results from whatever technique they use.

Does the type/method of lipo affect the survival rate for fat transfer?

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