Fat Grafting History and Applications

When we think of cosmetic surgery procedures, we often assume that these have all been recent innovations. However, specific cosmetic procedures are often older in their origins than it might appear at first – in fact, such is the case for fat grafting, which is often used in many procedures these days, but actually has its routes over a century ago!

What is Fat Grafting?

Fat grafting, sometimes referred to as fat transfer, is the procedure that is largely what it sounds like. During a fat grafting procedure, fat is taken from one region of the body and then deposited elsewhere. Fat is always removed from the patient’s own body and not taken from another patient or a synthetic source, as the latter examples would drastically reduce the chances of success. This method is often used in a wide array of different cosmetic treatments and can also have applications to remove scars and the like in patients healing from trauma.

History of Fat Grafting

The history of fat grafting procedures is quite lengthy, especially compared to some other cosmetic procedures that we still use today. Indeed, the first instance of fat grafting being carried out was in 1893 to remove scars that had developed in a patient’s eye due to bone infections. This first fat grafting procedure was carried out by German plastic surgeon, Gustav Neuber. His success was followed two years later by Dr. Vikto Czerny, who corrected a partial mastectomy using a lipoma transfer to the breast.

However, despite these early successes, fat grafting has always been a complex procedure. To this end, the procedure largely struggled to take off until later in the 20 th century, when new standardized techniques were developed by a plastic surgeon in New York City and published in the form of papers. These new technique discoveries would revolutionize the perception of fat transfer, and the procedure became more successful, affordable, and safe as a result.

Applications of Fat Grafting

At this point, we should consider the applications of fat grafting. While modern surgeons can apply these procedures in many ways, a few of the most notable include the following:

• Scar removal or reduction treatments
• Repairing damage caused to breast tissues following chemotherapy treatments for cancer
• In cosmetic applications such as for breast and buttock enhancements and the like

These are just a few of the applications of fat grafting, and cosmetic purposes are often the most common these days. Contact our team today to learn more about fat grafting and its benefits; we’re on hand to help!