Do Dermal-Fat Grafts Work For A Buccal Lipectomy Reversal?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I underwent a buccal lipectomy about a year and a half ago and I was very dissatisfied with the result. Searching for a solution to my problem, I recently read your article on buccal lipectomy reversal with dermal-fat grafts and was interested. I would like to know if you did more cases similar to the one reported in the article and if you had good results. In addition, I would like to know the chances of graft necrosis in the procedure. 

A: As you may know the most common treatment for any form of facial fat loss/atrophy would be fat injections. But in the handful of cases where patients have specifically requested non-injectable dermal-fat graft for buccal fat restoration have done well and have not suffered fat loss/necrosis. That is not a surprise to me as the typical size of the buccal fat pad is in the 3ccs range, which translates into a small dermal-fat graft, which usually does well anywhere on the face when implanted.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana