Fat Transplant
January 02, 2007 - Chandana Banerjee
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Fat transplant is used to augment areas of the body, such as the buttocks, biceps, triceps muscles, calf muscles, breasts, hands and penis. The best part about fat transplant is that the materials used to augment the desired body part are your own fat cells. So the procedure is biocompatible and non-allergenic and a fat transfer feels more natural than a body implant.
People may resort to fat transplant because fat may be unevenly distributed in their bodies, causing disproportionate features. Also, people who’ve lost volume in a specific area may want to get a fat transplant to look better.
Body fat transplants are performed by board certified plastic surgeons and the procedure can take up to two hours. Fat transplant is performed under general or local anesthesia with sedation and the waiting time before returning home depends on the amount of fat that is transferred.
A fat transplant is carried out by first applying antiseptic to the area from where the fat will be removed and the area where the fat will be injected. Then fat cells are removed from the buttocks, stomach or thighs using liposuction. After the fat cells are suctioned by the cannula, the fat cells are processed and purified by the doctor. In some cases, the doctor will use a technique that spins the fat cells before injecting them beneath the skin. The area will be bandaged after the procedure.
Up to 60 percent of the transferred fat cells die during the first three to four days that the capillaries take to reach the transplanted fat cells. For this reason, surgeons overfill the treated area to allow for dissipation of transferred fat cells. Since many of the transferred fat cells may eventually be reabsorbed in the body, the results may be unpredictable. The results of a fat transplant may last anywhere between three years to a lifetime.
There will be some swelling, bruising and discomfort after the procedure and you may need help with your daily activities for a few days.
Complications from fat transfers are infrequent but these include uneven skin texture, infection, abscess, excessive bleeding or scarring. If fat is injected in two or more areas, patients may have some asymmetry if the fat appears uneven in different areas.
