Lipofilling
New York

The lipofilling can be done on the face as well as on the body.

Face

Lipofilling of the face mainly helps to fill hollow wrinkles, restore volume and change the shape of the nose or chin. It is also used to give a boost to the skin or to correct serious sequelae of acne (crater-shaped scars). The face requires little fat to treat wrinkles or lack of volume and the surgeon always finds adequate reserves even in very slim people.

For the body, the donor must have a larger stock and only people with excess fat are eligible for a lipostructure.

Breasts

Breast lipofilling allows a moderate increase in breast volume. It is becoming increasingly popular among women who do not want to resort to silicone gel implants.

The buttocks

The buttocks lipofilling makes the buttocks firmer, higher and more defined. When the surgeon takes the fat from the buttocks or the saddlebags, it is a complete remodelling of the buttocks.

The intimate parts

• Extend the circumference of the penis during a phalloplasty.
• Rejuvenate the vagina: The fat injected during vaginoplasty improves the vaginal mucosa's trophicity when it tends to dry out after the age of 45.
• Increase the size of vaginal lips when they are too small with nymphoplasty or rejuvenate them when wrinkled.

Other areas of the body

• Correct asymmetry of the calves, or even reshape the whole leg by remodeling also the ankles.
• Correct so-called "corrugated iron" irregularities after liposuction has left hollows and bumps visible on the skin. A person with good skin elasticity can expect a good result but if the skin is sagged, the improvement is moderate.
• Fill a pectus excavatum, malformation of the rib cage where the sternum is recessed.

The lipofilling is done under local or general anaesthesia according to the areas, without hospitalization and lasts between one to two hours.

Fat extraction

The collection of fat cells is done in a donor area that can be any area on the abdomen, thighs, hips, knees, etc. The surgeon removes only the amount necessary for lipofilling or they take the opportunity to do a complete liposuction.

Two methods are possible, according to the practice methods of the practitioners.

This is a fat autograft since the donor and recipient are the same person. The injected fat is perfectly tolerated by the body so there is no risk of rejection or allergy.

• Either the extracted fat cells are centrifuged to clear them of their impurities before reinjecting them in the form of mash.
• Either the protected fat cells are injected directly into their original liquid composed of a saline and interstitial fluid solution. 

Regardless of the method used, with or without a centrifuge, both methods work. It is important is to keep the greatest number of live fat cells during the transfer for a significant proportion of the graft to be successful.

Fat injection

The injection of fat into the recipient area is under the form of microbeads of fat tissue distributed in the area to be filled, so that the grafted cells are in contact with the capillaries, capable of supplying them with oxygen and the nutrients necessary for their survival.

The surgeon avoids injecting more than 500 grams of fat during a session to avoid the necrosis of the fatty tissue. In fact, a fat transplant that is too compact is no longer nourished by neighbouring tissues and the cells will die.

The effects vary according to the importance of lipofilling. There is a oedema and bruising during a week. You can resume normal activities after one or two days. It is advisable to wait about a month before resuming sports activities.

The result of lipofilling is visible immediately. One to three sessions will be required to obtain the final result.

At each session, a part of the graft of the fatty tissue will be kept and another part will gradually be absorbed. It is thus necessary, from the beginning, that the patient is prepared psychologically to a small disappointment just after the procedure. In general, the amount of fat decreases by 30 to 60% depending on the case. This volume decrease should not be confused with the final result, which is permanent.

The injected fat then reacts in the same way as the fat found elsewhere on the body. Its quantity increases if the person gains weight and decreases if they lose weight. But whatever the weight variations are, the shape of the area treated by lipostructure will be maintained in proportion.