What You Should Know About Fat Grafting
Ever wish you could take the excess fat from your belly, hips and thighs and move it to your breasts? Perhaps a more appropriate question might be what woman hasn’t? The fact is that it’s actually possible. The procedure is called fat grafting, but, despite its almost universal appeal, the jury’s still out as to whether or not the procedure is safe or even effective.
Here’s what you should know about fat grafting for breast augmentation:
- Fat grafting involves the transfer of fat cells from one body part to another. Surgeons remove fat cells using liposuction and then transfer them to the breasts via multiple small injections.
- The procedure has been used for augmenting breasts since the 1980’s. At that time, however, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) and the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) cautioned against the procedure because the side effects—tissue scarring, oil cysts, and calcification—made identifying breast cancer through mammography more difficult.
- Not much evidence exists suggesting that fat grafting is safer or more effective than traditional augmentation techniques using saline or silicone breast implants.
- Risks associated with fat grafting include the formation of oil cysts, calcification, tissue scarring, absorption and/or non-survival of the harvested fat cells. Cysts, scarring of tissue, and calcifications, despite advances in mammography technology, can still mimic or conceal breast cancer.
- Fat grafting usually requires multiple sessions and often requires lengthier recovery times than needed with implants.
- The procedure can be used to enhance breast appearance after reconstruction surgery or to soften the appearance of implants in thin women who have experienced rippling.
- Currently, neither the ASAPS nor the ASPS recommend fat grafting for breast augmentation since there is little evidence documenting its safety or efficacy.
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