Fat Transfer Techniques

When the liposuction method became more commonly available, fat also became much more easily taken from the body. That progress permitted further plastic, dermatological and cosmetic surgeons to offer their patients fat transfer for cosmetic reasons. Patients prefer fat transfer because in this process it is their own tissue is used and, hence, the body does not reject and because most dermal fillers are absorbed by the body in three to nine months, making habitual injections a continuing expense.

The fat transfer process collects fat from one part of the body where an excess and then places it in a new part of the body where the additional bulk is used for cosmetic and aesthetic purposes. Fat transfer -- which is also known as fat grafting, fat autographs, autologous fat transplantation, fat injecting or microlipoinjections to physicians -- is being used in cosmetic plastic surgery to:

1. Smooth and repair aged hands
2. Fill wrinkled, creased faces
3. Create shapelier, curvaceous buttocks
4. Enlarge breasts

Potential risks of fat transfer are:

1. Bleeding or blood clots
2. Infection
3. Nerve damage or wound dehiscence
4. Fluid collection, or seroma