Question about Fat grafting

[COD4]

Hello Doctors , i got a surgery done for my gynocomastia last year. unfortunataly my Surgeon has removed excess fat on one side by excision . so i went to another plastic surgeon and asked about fixing this issue. he said that he will take fat from somewhere and fill the problematic areas. so my question is after i get my fat grafting done , will all the fat remain without dying ? i have a little bit of scar tissue under the skin of that area. i massage it everyday and it seems to go away.

so after fat is inserted to the chest and what happens if i loose weight . will the newly inserted fat act normally as the other fat ? i mean will it go away when losing weight ? like the other fat ?

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

You are talking about revision surgery for gyne and there are certain things to consider.

First, sometimes it is better an easier to remove the fat from the "normal" side so that it now resembles the side that you are concerned about.

If fat or tissue has been removed from beneath the nipples, thereby creating a crater, it is often better to perform a fat flap to reconstruct the defect rather than transfer fat.

Fat grafting is effective but there are certain things to consider. It is sometimes necessary to repeat the procedure in order to get the best possible result. Next, assuming the fat graft survives, it will have the same characteristics as fat from where it is taken.  It will enlarge naturally if you over-eat.  If you lose weight, it will get smaller as well.

You should pose these questions to your surgeon.

Dr Jacobs

[COD4]

Doctor , is it possible to bring a fat flap from the other side of the chest to fill the problem areas ?  Or what about taking a graft from the normal side to the othwr side?

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

You should post photos to illustrate your problem.

Just FYI, fat grafts can be taken from any place on the body in which there is available fat.  Fat flaps can only be done with  fat tissue which is immediately adjacent to the problem.

Dr Jacobs

[DrPensler]

I would agree with everything Dr Jacobs said.A couple of additional points. In answer to your question no,all of the grafted fat does not survive.The amount of fat that survives is variable and dependant on multiple factors. Fat grafting typically needs to be repeated and depending on the recipient bed for the graft has variable results.There may be additional ways to correct the problem with the use of local tissue.

[Dr. Schuster]

Fat grafting has actually been performed for many years but has gained much more popularity in recent years. All of the details have not yet been worked out but it is clear that it works. The basic idea is that it takes fat from one location, can be prepared by a number of different ways, and then is placed carefully in the new location. The body must "grow into" the fat cells to keep them alive. If new blood can be supplied, to keep the fat alive, it will live happily ever after in its new home. It will live as it did before, getting bigger and smaller as you gain and lose weight. If your surgeon has good experience with fat grafting and believes that it would work in your circumstance, than I would go along with the recommendations. Good luck.