Breast lipofilling, also called fat transfer, is a cosmetic surgery technique that refines certain areas of the body by removing fat to reinject it into the chest and increase its volume. What are the directions? And the hazards?
Breast lipofilling is a cosmetic surgery to increase your breasts taking fat to another part of the body (buttocks, stomach, thighs) to reinject it into the breasts. It can result from an aesthetic desire or from a restorative indication. who can do breast lipofilling? What are the hazards? What is the price breast lipofilling?
Definition: what is breast lipofilling?
THE breast lipofilling East cosmetic surgery which consists of transferring autologous fat (i.e. belonging to the patient) to the chest. The technique allows both to refine the silhouette in certain places and gain in chest circumference. The fat is removed by liposuction in one or more areas of the body with a surplus of fatty deposits to then be reinjected into the breasts. “Generally, fat is taken from the belly, love handles, inner thighs“explains Dr. Plot, plastic surgeon. But it may be necessary to take fat from several areas in order to have good quality fat..” IThe indications are aesthetic or restorative.
What results can we expect from breast lipofilling?
- give volume breasty
- To correct an asymmetry
- Correct a lack of breast development
- Correct a malformation
- To fill in a fatty void
It is necessary that we have a certain reserve of grease to be taken and of good quality.
Who can do breast lipofilling?
Breast lipofilling is for women with localized fatty deposits who want to increase their bust size by one cup without having breast implants. However, this technique is not suitable for women who want significant volume gain. In addition, patients who are too thin can sometimes not have recourse to this intervention. “It is necessary that we have a certain reserve of fat to be taken and of good quality, explains Dr. Plot. And in women who are too thin, we will not be able to remove enough fatty tissue. Moreover, liposculpture is very interesting for women who have lost a little volume in the breasts after breastfeeding. We can then give them back their shape, fill a breast that is a little emptied at the upper pole. This allows women to regain their pre-pregnancy breasts.“
You can win up to 1 cap.
What is the volume obtained by breast lipofilling?
Breast lipofilling is not intended for women who want a large volume because it offers a more moderate result than with a breast augmentation with prostheses. “It is a very beautiful technique which however has a limit: it does not allow large volumes to be produced. The patient can gain up to a maximum cap. But it is quite possible to do additional sessions at approximately 6 month intervals, to re-increase the volume.“Furthermore, you should know that all the injected fat will not take. A part will be systematically absorbed. “It is a cell transplant and therefore not everything will take. The idea is to over-correct a little to get the desired result after resorption. But it takes be careful not to saturate the breast too much at the risk of causing necrosis. Indeed part of the fat will not be vascularized. It is therefore necessary to find the right balance between over-correction and saturation.“According to Dr. Plot, estimating the level of resorption is difficult,”several factors come into play such as the quality of the injected fat and the receptivity of the patient. This is why this technique must be fully explained so as not to create false hopes. In general, it is estimated that approximately 60% of the injected volume will take. A variable grip from one patient to another of course.”
► Lipofilling and prostheses. For women who want a larger volume, it is possible to combine lipofilling with a breast prosthesis. “The interest is to use a smaller prosthesis. The prosthesis is then coated with lipofilling for a little more volume. This gives a very natural result, we can target where we inject the fat for something very precise. It’s a composite technique which has more than one advantage!”
Can you do breast lipofilling after a mastectomy?
Lipofilling can be proposed, according to very specific criteria, women who have had a mastectomy after breast cancer. “In the vast majority of cases, lipofilling will be done during secondary reconstruction. It is not really done in immediate reconstruction because we avoid associating lipofilling and radiotherapy, the rays can indeed impact the fat. is however an excellent technique to correct the sequelae linked to radiotherapy because the latter damages the skin, makes it thinner, causes inflammatory reactions.Lipofilling not only allows to improve the shape and volume of the breasts but also the quality of the skin“And should we fear an increase in the risk of recurrence of breast cancer in the event of breast lipofilling? For Dr. Plot, the answer is no: “we reinject fat and not breast tissue. It therefore has no impact on the risk of recurrence.. Moreover, this type of breast augmentation does not affect the follow-up of the patient either because the doctors know perfectly well how to tell the difference between a fatty nodule and a cancerous nodule.“
What are the dangers of breast lipofilling?
The technique is risk-free: “we already have several years of hindsight on lipofilling. It is a natural method that does not present any particular risks except of course those classically linked to an operation and anesthesia“, emphasizes Dr. Plot.
The operation takes place in three stages:
► A first phase of liposuction.
► A second fat preparation stage : this step is a little longer because it involves purifying the fat by centrifugation in particular.
► A third stage is devoted to the reinjection of fat. “We do not reinject the fat like that, there is always a work of purification, which is why lipofilling has a long operating time, longer than for a breast prosthesis, which also explains why it is more expensive. , explains our interlocutor.
The three stages take place under general anesthesia and the patient can go home in the evening unless there are contraindications and “except in the case of major liposuction. If the patient takes advantage of the operation to have a significant volume of fat removed, then we will keep her overnight for observation.“, warns the specialist.
“Once the resorption has passed, the results apart from any significant weight variation are final. The chest can gain or lose volume if ever there is a significant gain or loss of weight but as for a breast that would not have undergone any breast augmentation. In the event of asymmetry due to a defect in taking the graft, it is possible to make a touch-up and reinject fat. In this case, one can operate under local anesthesia, the volumes to be removed being less important“, explains the expert.
The scars are very inconspicuous
Advantages and disadvantages of breast lipofilling
“The primary advantage is that with fat transfer, there are no foreign bodies, so there is no risk of rejection. It is a natural technique that gives an equally natural result both to the eye and to the touch“, comments the specialist. Other advantages, it is an act rather well tolerated by the patient and the scars are very inconspicuous,”apart from the puncture points in the sampling areas, there are no scars with lipofilling.“Furthermore, the injected fat cells contain stem cells that play an important role in wound healing. The aftermath is simple, postoperative pain, edema and bruising are less significant than during the placement of implants. Furthermore, breast lipofilling does not prevent breastfeeding. However, the method has a drawback:We cannot offer the same augmentation volumes as with prostheses.”
What is the cost of breast lipofilling?
In case of post-cancer reconstruction, lipofilling is a method of breast augmentation covered by health insurance. As part of a cosmetic operation, no refunds are made. The operation counts between “€6,000 and €10,000“says Dr. Plot. A figure that changes according to the reputation of the doctor, the establishment where the act takes place, the region of operation…
Thanks to Dr. Eric Plot plastic surgeon, member of the French Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (SOFCEP).