Posted February 15, 2017 in Blog
Breast augmentation surgery generally uses silicone or saline implants to enlarge the breast. Overall, these have been shown to be safe to use. However, some women might not be entirely comfortable with the notion of inserting foreign material into their bodies for this purpose. In addition, if the implant fails, it can be difficult to detect, particularly with silicone. For these reasons, there are alternative methods being researched, mainly that of using fat transfer.
Fat Transfer
Augmentation via fat transfer uses either liposuction or contouring to remove fat from one area of the body and then graft it into the breasts. Since it uses the patient’s own fat tissue, there is little chance that it will be rejected by the body.
This is seen as a much more natural way to achieve the cosmetic results of augmentation. However, there are some issues to be aware of.
Some Issues
While there is hope to see fat transfer be approved as safe and effective, there are some issues which need to be worked out first. These include:
• Fat tissue dies: In many cases, not all of the fat tissue that is transferred will survive. Some of the tissue, once injected into the breast, may die, resulting in calcification, oil cysts, and inflammation.
• Risk of cancer: If the fat tissue dies and calcifies, it can interfere with the detection of cancer. Unless this is mitigated, those with a history of breast cancer will have to take care with this procedure.
• Blood supply: Fat, like all tissue, needs a ready blood supply once transferred. Without this, the tissue dies, the implant fails, and there is a chance of health complications later on as mentioned above.
• Time: As yet, the procedure takes multiple sessions which are each a couple hours long, which is much more than the single-procedure implant methods traditionally used.
In spite of these limitations, the procedure shows some promise, and some progress has been made in making it more viable.
The Safe Approach
While we hope to see more progress made on fat transfer procedures, North Dallas Plastic Surgery currently employs tried and true methods when it comes to augmentation surgery. To learn more about our cosmetic procedures, contact us today.
