Lipofilling is a surgical procedure that allows to increase the volume of a part of the body through the transfer of fat obtained by liposuction.
It is indicated for moderate breast and buttock augmentation, facial rejuvenation, correction of fatty tissue depressions in the body, facial lipodystrophy and breast reconstruction.
How lipofilling is performed
The procedure is performed under local anesthesia – sedation or general anesthesia – but only occasionally requires hospitalization.
Currently, reabsorption has been greatly minimized through the use of fine cannulas, with low pressure aspiration, careful and sterile handling of the fat (centrifugation at low revolutions or filtration and cleaning) and application through microcannulas depositing very little amount of fat in each area.
The postoperative period is usually quite mild, requires wearing a compression garment in the liposuctioned areas and involves the appearance of bruises or variable swelling in the grafted area. It requires antibiotics and painkillers for a week. It has the advantage of not leaving visible scars.
It is considered that the result is already stable in 4-5 months although it is preferable to wait a minimum of 6 months if we need to make a new correction on the same area.
Enrichment of fat with stem cells obtained from the fat
Although with current techniques the percentage of fat reabsorption is much lower and the improvement in the quality of the skin is evident, we are looking for methods that allow us to improve the grafting in the recipient area and allow us to graft less fat. Although there are controversies in the use of stem cells, it has not been possible to demonstrate any toxic effect or the appearance of tumors from the use of fat stem cells.
Undesirable effects
Complications in this surgery are minor and, sometimes, related to an incorrect manipulation that causes the injected tissue not to survive or, by performing a good manipulation of the tissue, to place too much. The undesirable effects that can be generated are:
-The reabsorption greater than expected that may be related to an incorrect manipulation of the fat.
– At the mammary level, the appearance of fat cysts due to the infiltration of large volumes in a small area or microcalcifications.
– At the facial level, overcorrection or use in cases not indicated can cause the face to become too swollen.
– Complications of any liposuction can also occur.
Benefits over other procedures
Currently, lipofilling in the right hands is one of the cosmetic and reconstructive surgery procedures with the highest yield and the fewest complications. The advantages are clear, because being a minimally invasive procedure and with hardly any scars, it allows us to aesthetically extract those areas of fat that we have in excess and reposition them in areas where we lack.
Apart from the improvement in volume, we can appreciate an improvement or rejuvenation of the treated skin being, in this way, very useful not only for breast, buttocks or cheekbones augmentation, but also in cases of facial aging or sequelae of irradiated breasts after lumpectomy or mastectomy.
Although it may seem a simple procedure, it requires not only an adequate technical training, but also a good aesthetic or artistic training.