The Line Between Beauty and Ugliness: Autologous Fat Transplantation (Part 1)

"Doctor, I heard that autologous fat transplantation has a long-lasting effect. Can I transplant it here, here, here... all of them?"

"(The first day after the autologous fat surgery) Doctor, I was so beautiful after the hyaluronic acid injection, why am I so swollen now? Did you make me ugly?!"

Autologous fat transplantation has developed into a mature technology through groundbreaking research in dermatology and plastic surgery.

The topic of autologous fat transplantation surgery has been very popular recently. Many people are flocking to it, which has also led to a high level of inquiries about this surgery in clinics. In fact, using your own fat as a filling material is not a new thing. In fact, as early as the 20th century, the first material used by doctors to fill depressions was fat. Its history as a filler is much longer than that of collagen, hyaluronic acid and other materials that were developed later. However, the technology of autologous fat transplantation was not mature at that time, and the convenience achieved was far less than that of materials that can be injected immediately, such as hyaluronic acid. It was not until recently that key technological breakthroughs made it a good treatment option again.

Autologous fat transplantation consists of two parts: the first is the familiar liposuction, which extracts some fat that is less needed (usually from the thighs or abdomen); the second is fat filling, which injects the extracted fat into sunken or underfilled areas. Between the two steps, the fat must first undergo a purification process before being transplanted back into the body. In the context of the time, the operation had to be performed under general anesthesia, and the survival rate of transplanted fat cells was not high (mostly only around 30%), making this operation not easily accepted by the general public. Just imagine, just to improve your nasolabial folds, you have to go under general anesthesia to extract a small amount of fat. After the fat is filled in, you have to endure several weeks of swelling during the recovery period. A few months later, you find that only one-third of the original filled part is left? !

Although the fat that successfully survives officially becomes a part of the body and can be retained for a long time, the price to pay for it is a bit too high. Therefore, after various injectable fillers (such as hyaluronic acid) came out one after another, because of the advantages of being safe, fast, and having almost no recovery period, this type of small-area depression correction later became almost the only option for injectable fillers. Although hyaluronic acid is praised for its stability and safety, its advantage of being naturally metabolized by the body also becomes its biggest disadvantage - lack of durability. In addition, hyaluronic acid is priced by milliliter, so once a large area of ​​filling is required, it is often very expensive. These are its shortcomings.

On the other hand, autologous fat transplantation surgery has made two major breakthroughs during this period: first, in 1987, American dermatologist Dr. Klein published the expansion anesthesia method, and since then liposuction surgery has officially entered an era where it can be performed under local anesthesia and with the patient conscious; second, the stem cell-assisted transplantation technology developed by Dr. Yoshimura of the Plastic Surgery Department of the University of Tokyo in 2007 has significantly increased the survival rate after fat transplantation to 70% to 80%. After three decades of refinement, autologous fat transplantation has finally developed into a mature technology thanks to breakthrough research in dermatology and plastic surgery.

Just as micro plastic surgery does not require general anesthesia, doctors can now perform fat transplantation surgery while the patient is fully awake. Large facial depressions, such as the cheeks, temples (marriage palace), etc., are all suitable locations for filling with autologous fat transplantation. In terms of body parts, in addition to the much-discussed autologous fat breast augmentation, some doctors also use this technology in private firming and sexual enhancement surgeries. Thanks to the technology developed by Dr. Yoshimura, the interstitial extracts from liposuction greatly promote cell regeneration, making the purpose of fat transplantation no longer simply to fill deficiencies. Full-face fat filling and rejuvenation surgery came into being under such conditions. (Continued)