Function-preserving fat grafting in the breast: Results based on 18 years of experience.

[BACKGROUND] Autologous fat transplantation has been used for breast nearly 40 years, but there are two main problems: the volume retention rate is unpredictable, leading to too many operations, and various complications, such as nodules, necrosis and calcification, occur.

[OBJECTIVE] The author proposed "function-preserving fat grafting" (FPFG) and reviewed the clinical data of patients from October 2002 to December 2020.

[METHODS] A total of 1218 patients underwent surgery, and 767 patients were followed up for more than half a year. Their ages ranged from 22 to 61 (31.9±10.1) years, and the BMI values ranged from 16.1 to 28.2 (20.6±2.73) kg/m. Group I included 703 cases of breast aesthetic augmentation, group II included 38 cases of breast reconstruction after mastectomy (10 cases after radiotherapy and 7 cases after the Brava device was worn) and group III included 26 cases of simultaneous implant exchange with fat.

[RESULTS] At 6 months after the operation, 89.8% of the patients were satisfied with the outcome. For these patients, aesthetic augmentation required 1.9±0.73 procedures, and the unilateral breast injection volume was 180-380 ml (265.5±46.6); breast reconstruction required an average of 3.4±0.71 procedures, and the unilateral injection volume was 140-370 ml (233.9±67.7). The simultaneous implant exchange volume with fat was 160-320 ml (241.3±35.8 ml). There were 9 cases (1.2%) of palpable nodules, 3 cases of infection (0.39%), and no other severe complications.

[CONCLUSIONS] FPFG has the advantages of requiring few operations; leading to few necrosis, oil cysts and nodules; and leading to high postoperative satisfaction.