What is lipofilling?
Lipotransfer or lipofilling is a technique that consists of removing fat from one part of the body and placing it in another.
Subcutaneous fat has several characteristics that make it an ideal tissue for multiple treatments:
- Abundant: It can be used as a filling material and to provide volume.
- It does not provoke rejection as it is the patient’s own fat.
- Rich in growth factors: This favors healing, improves circulation, collagen formation, etc.
- Main source of stem cells in the body.
Lipotransfer is usually applied in these parts of the body:
- Lipotransfer in buttocks.
- Lipotransfer in face: it is the most common and simplest. It is applied to different parts of the face such as lips, cheekbones and forehead.
- Lipotransfer in breasts
The procedure can be performed either as an inpatient or outpatient procedure and local anesthesia is usually used to infiltrate both the donor area and the area to be treated, but if the anesthesiologist deems it convenient, general anesthesia is used.
Why is it performed?
The main objective of lipofilling is to improve the aesthetic appearance and rejuvenation of the body. Generally, this is done to define the cheekbones, cheeks and chin, redesign the face, reduce wrinkles, fill out calves and buttocks, firm thin lips and reshape sagging or small breasts. This treatment, besides having aesthetic purposes, is also optimal to quickly repair injured tissues or heal wounds, such as correcting post-traumatic and surgical defects or filling scars.
This type of treatment is used to fill or give volume to some areas of the body such as lips, breasts, etc., and thus avoid the use of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials. It is a technique that has revolutionized Plastic Surgery and can be used as an exclusive treatment or as a complement to others.
Apart from the most typical applications such as filling to increase the volume of a body area, breast reconstruction or facial rejuvenation, lipotransfer is also used for the treatment of scars, treatment of lesions caused by radiotherapy and in recent years has been used in the treatment of pain of neuropathic origin, ie, nerve damage.
What does it consist of?
The lipofilling technique consists in the aspiration of adipose tissue, commonly known as fat, from the body areas where it is present in greater quantities such as the abdomen, hips and thighs, by means of cannulas connected to syringes and introduced after a few minutes in the area to be treated.
The extracted fat is injected into the desired area as a common filler substance, with the particularity, however, of being a natural substance produced by the body itself.
The first step to perform the lipotransfer is to know the amount of adipose tissue needed to achieve the desired result, so a calculation has to be made. Depending on the amount of the extraction will be performed in one way or another and in one area or another. For example, if a large amount of fat is needed to make the filler, it is usually extracted from the abdominal area or the hips, which are those that normally accumulate more adipose tissue. On the other hand, if the touch-up or filler is small, the fat extraction can be done in a simpler way, and even directly with a syringe.
In any of the two types of extraction, the fat is usually extracted together with other tissues and blood, so a filtering process is performed so that the adipose tissue to be transferred is as pure and clean as possible. This helps to decrease the percentage of fat absorption by the body itself.
Ultimately, the fat is infiltrated into the area to be reshaped or augmented.
How to prepare for treatment?
Prior to surgery, a preoperative visit is essential for both the patient and the surgeon. During this visit, the plastic surgeon evaluates the patient’s lifestyle and possible pathologies, identifies the problem areas and those from which fat will be extracted for infiltration, all in agreement with the patient. The planning of the operation concludes with a preoperative planning of the affected areas, photos of these for post-procedure comparison and specific instructions on diet and habits to follow before and after the treatment. The most common lifestyle recommendations to follow are to abstain from smoking for four weeks before and eight weeks after the operation and the prohibition of taking anti-inflammatory drugs or acetylsalicylic acid, which alter the microcirculation and increase the risk of infection.
Before performing the liposuction, the specialist will analyze the patient’s profile, taking into account the health problems (any coagulation difficulties) that the patient may have and his/her medical history in order to determine the procedure to follow.
Some advice to follow in the days prior to the procedure:
- Use a germicidal soap on the skin.
- No medication containing salicylates (fifteen days before and fifteen days after the operation).
- Do not smoke (fifteen days before and fifteen days after the operation).
- Moisturize the skin, to ensure a better skin elasticity, besides making it more suitable for the procedure.
What should be done afterwards?
In the period immediately after the treatment, a compression garment is applied for three weeks to prevent swelling and bruising. The patient will feel numbness and pain in the treated area, which can be relieved with common painkillers. The result is visible after the first three weeks and will become optimal approximately six months after the operation. The patient can return to normal daily activities two to four weeks after the operation, although it depends on which part is treated.
Care after the operation
Mainly the patient must follow the medication prescribed by his doctor, with the intention of reducing the risk of infections; keep the rest time (not exceeding the first 24 hours) and do not sunbathe until the bruises have disappeared (about six weeks) and, when they disappear, it is wise to use sunscreen for half a year, all this in order to avoid hyperpigmentation.
Other tips to follow are:
- Medications containing salicylates are prohibited.
- Do not smoke
- Moisturize the skin
Alternatives to this treatment
When lipoblastoplasty is applied in different parts of the body, the alternatives to treatment are different in each part. In the case of liposuction in breasts, the alternative would be breast prosthesis; other alternatives to liposuction in buttocks are buttock prosthesis or hyaluronic acid injections.
The alternatives to liposuction in the face there are different techniques for each area, but the most used are hyaluronic acid injections or botulinum toxin injections.