What Is The Best Way To Do Fat Grafting?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I have spent considerable amount of time in researching fat transfers believing it to be the most viable option when done correctly, especially for thin older women. The stem cell benefits of properly done fat grafting add tremendous benefits as well. I understand although fat grafting has been around for a number of years, the harvesting and injection procedures have changed, creating greater success in keeping the fat cells alive. What methods do you use to ensure the success rate of your fat transfers, and what is the success rate you are currently having?  One of the greatest difficulty for a patient, are the major disagreements in the medical field regarding the procedures used. Please understand I believe fat transfers to be one of the greatest positive changes in how we address aging skin, I want to have it done, but I am still very undecided due to the conflicting medical opinions out there. There is a very heated debate regarding the “dropplet” vs larger blocks, and the placement location.

A: The concise answer to your basic question is that fat grafting is in a state of evolution and development. It is far from a perfected science from the harvest to the injection methods. No matter what you read or is touted by any one surgeon, no one knows the best method to do fat grafting and just about everyone does it using the same basic principles. No matter what any surgeon claims, they do not have a magical method that works all the time and claims about how much fat survives, in many cases, are perceptions about fat graft take not actual measurements. How well fat graft takes can not yet be measured in any quantifiable way and is based largely on photographs and what the surgeons perceives has survived. Quite frankly as a surgeon I can tell that such perceptions are often skewed by what one wants to see and most claims of survival are likely overstated, some with good intent and others for pure marketing purposes.  What may work well in one patient and one face or body area may not work well in the next patient. Fat grafting by injection remains an imprecise art with the science lagging far behind as of yet.

The most straightforward and honest answer that I tell prospective patients about fat grafting take is…no one can predict it and it will likely end up somewhere between 10% to 90%. While the goal is to have have maximal take on one procedure, every fat grafting patient needs to be prepared that more than one procedure may be needed.

Most fat grafting is done by injection because it is the only practical way to either treat a large area or get the material without undue scarring. En bloc fat grafts, also known as dermal-fat grafts, actually work and take very well. But their uses are very limited because a donor site is required and the size of the recipient site must also be relatively small.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis,Indiana