Lipofilling (fat injection)

• Fat is harvested from one part of the body and is then injected into another part of the body to augment contour defects or improve ageing. Since fat is part of one’s own tissues, unlike implants, there is not much reaction to tissues.

• Contour defects over the face and the rest of the body
• Correct contour defects due to trauma or breast reconstruction or previous surgery
• Correct deflation of tissues due to ageing

• The operation Lipofilling is usually done under general anaesthesia. A small incision of about 5 mm is made, and fat is harvested. The harvested fat is then injected into the contour defect to increase the volume of tissue and correct the contour defect.

• The injected fat can reabsorb, and hence fat retention may differ from person to person and also from each area. Various studies have been done to find out how much fat is retained. A recent study looked into the amount of fat retention reported in various studies*. They reported that the amount of fat retention was between 39 -77%. Hence to correct the deformity fully we may have to do the Lipofilling procedure multiple times

• There may be some mild bruising and swelling both from the place from where we took the grafts from and also where we injected. This procedure will be done as daycare or may stay for 1 night in the hospital. A compression garment is usually worn to reduce the swelling.

• The main complication of fat grafting is the absorption of fat and hence the procedure needs to be repeated multiple times. There can be asymmetries due to this. The other complications such as bleeding and infection are rare.