Soft tissue augmentation with autologous fat graft: the dissected pouch technique.

BACKGROUND

Soft tissue augmentation with autologous fat graft has been increasingly used by plastic surgeons despite unpredictable results. Several techniques have been described to prevent the main setback of this technique, fat graft resorption. However, there is no ideal technique described for this purpose.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Twenty patients with subcutaneous tissue loss, atrophy or hypoplasia were treated with lipofilling. A subcutaneous pouch is dissected at the deformed area and later it is filled with autologous fat graft.

RESULTS

Graft maintenance during the postoperative period was satisfactory. Overcorrection was not performed except for the first three cases. Patient, surgeon and layman satisfaction was surveyed. Satisfaction was rated between 0 and 10. The mean score was 7.67 +/- 1.22.

CONCLUSION

The authors describe a technique for soft tissue augmentation which effectively corrects contour deformities, provides a low resorption rate and a relatively non-visible scar without causing irregularities.