Lipografting
Fat tissue transplantation has become one of the most powerful and important fields of reconstructive surgery over the last decade. The idea of this technique is to collect the fat tissue from the areas where it is usually abundant (anterior abdominal wall, outer and inner surface of the thighs) with liposuction, and then after special processing and removal of excess fluid the fat is injected with a syringe in the areas of the body where there is a soft tissue deficit. Biological effect of this procedure is not only the increase in the volume caused by the fat cells’ transplantation but also a significant improvement of the quality of the tissue. This happens due to stem cells’ activation that are found in large numbers in the fat deposits under the skin. These cells are special because they can transform into any cell that the body needs in a specific place. Thus, the recovery and regeneration of the tissues happen as well. Small defects following breast-conserving surgeries and radiation therapy are corrected using this technique, however, lipografting is used the most for tissue correction after reconstructive operations to improve and ‘thicken’ the soft tissue above the implants. Technically this procedure is quite simple, it is minimally traumatic, and absolutely safe from a point of view of oncological results. However, it requires very careful technical execution and experience of the surgeon.