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Autologous Fat Grafting in Young Patients: the Quest to Achieve Facial Balance
Introduction:
Autologous fat grafting is a simple technique with a low complication profile that can be utilized earlier in life. In the past decade, we have been utilizing this technique to correct facial disharmony in cosmetic (with rhinoplasty) and reconstructive patients (cleft patients).
Materials and methods:
Fat grafting was performed at the time of rhinoplasty in ten cosmetic patients and at the time of nasal or lip revision in ten cleft patients. Presurgical planning involved cephalometric and computer enhanced photographic analysis of the face. Abnormalities treated included lip deformities, cleft nasal ala, midface retrusion and underprojected mentum. Deficient sites were treated with small aliquots of fat, which were injected into the supraperiosteal tissue and muscle. The average amounts of fat grafting injected per region were 1-2 cc for the upper lip, 1-2 cc for the malar region and 7-8 cc for the chin.
Results:
Twenty patients underwent augmentation of soft tissue and skeletal deficiencies. Analysis of postoperative results showed excellent outcomes with enhancement of facial profile and proportions. The mean follow up was 5 years. The majority of patients reported high degree of satisfaction. No complications were observed.
Conclusion:
Autologous fat grafting offers very satisfactory aesthetic outcomes and improvement of facial balance with minimal added time, cost, and risk.
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