It is rare, but in certain cases, the transferred fat may cause injury to the skin over the site, causing tissue damage to the skin and surrounding tissue. This may result in scarring or disfigurement and need surgery to repair.
A surgical fat transfer is generally a safe procedure, but it can occasionally result in: a collection of blood underneath the skin (haematoma) death of fat tissue (fat necrosis) a blockage in a blood vessel caused by a piece of fat (fat embolism)
Survival. The primary problem in autologous fat transfer is that of graft survival and volume retention postoperatively. Over the past decades, many studies have been published demonstrating a retention of only 25%–50% of implanted volume, whereas others have shown retention of up to 80%–90%.
The fatty cells introduced to the facial area during facial fat grafting are subject to the same biological processes as all fat cells, so they will disappear with significant weight loss.
Breast fat grafting avoids the potential for the complications that can accompany breast implants, such as rippling, rupturing or capsular contracture. It also eliminates the possibility of breast implants needing to be removed or replaced at some point in the future.
The transferred fat cells continue to live in the area where they were injected. If a patient has significant weight gain or loss, these fat cells could expand or shrink, affecting the overall results of the procedure.
There is no limit to how many times fat grafting can be done. Each session is commonly spaced by 6-12 weeks.
Firmness and Lumpiness While most transferred fat results in a natural feel, it is possible that some or all of the fat may become firm, hard, or lumpy. If some of the fat does not survive the transfer, it may result in fat necrosis (death of transferred fat tissue), causing firmness and discomfort or pain.
What Are lumps After Fat Transfer to the Breast? Hardened masses that appear post-fat grafting breast augmentation are typically caused by fat necrosis. Fat necrosis is a common complication that may result in either hardened lumps or oil cysts.
You should avoid vigorous exercise or strenuous exertion such as lifting or straining for a minimum of 3 weeks following surgery. Plan on taking it easy. Do not massage, rub or place any tension on the incisions for a minimum of 4 weeks after your surgery.
Liposuction Requirements
We require that patients are within 30% of their ideal weight before having liposuction as part of their fat transfer procedure. If you are greater than 30% over the ideal body weight, you will have to lose some weight before liposuction and the fat transfer procedure.
For example, reflux of fat into the ophthalmic or cerebral artery may occur when transplanting fat into critical areas of the face, resulting in blindness or cerebral infarction.7,8 Fatal fat embolism may also occur by inadvertent injection of fat into the gluteal vein plexus.
Costs for Breast Augmentation via Fat Transfer vary depending on your overall situation, your expectations and the degree of liposuction being performed. As a guide: Where liposuction is performed on one area and fat transfer to the breast, the cost is $8,800. The initial consultation is between $120 – $330.
It is unlikely that a fat transfer will cause the skin in that area to sag later in life. The skin will sag due to the effects of gravity and aging, not due to the volume restoration that you can achieve with fat transfer.
The cost for fat transfer to the buttocks varies depending on where you get the procedure done and the surgeon you choose. In the U.S., fat transfer patients will pay anywhere from $4,000 to $15,000.
Ideal Candidates for the Fat Transfer Procedure
Our fat transfer patients typically range in age from their late 30s to their 80s. Younger patients (those in their early 20s or 30s) can also experience volume loss patterns that make them look tired around the eyes.
Fat transfer: Because fat transfer to the breast utilizes a patient's own fat cells to increase breast volume – rather than a synthetic implant – the result looks and feels exceptionally natural in most cases. In addition, using the patient's own fat greatly reduces the risk of an allergic or adverse reaction.
Although the amount of fat you have available for harvest will help determine your fat transfer candidacy, patients should understand that gaining weight before a fat transfer procedure is not recommended.
Avoid alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine, for these will dramatically slow the healing process.
Abstract. Background: Recent anatomical studies have demonstrated that fat placed subjacent to the fascia of the gluteus maximus muscle can migrate deep through the muscle into the submuscular space, possibly causing tears in the gluteal veins, leading to fat embolisms.
[25] Timing is important in the evaluation of these patients as local recurrence of malignancy tends to occur in the first 1 to 5 years after surgery, whereas most of these changes of fat necrosis happen within weeks to months after surgery.