Long-term sterility of fat frozen for up to 24 months

Fat transfer is most effective when fresh fat is used, with excess fat frozen and saved for touch-ups. The obvious benefit to using frozen fat is that harvesting does not have to be done each time fat is injected. It is important to be able to easily store the fat in a freezer and be confident that it will not harbor bacterial growth. We studied frozen fat from 10 patients after 12 months and 10 patients after 24 months for sterility. Cultures were negative for all specimens, showing that frozen fat is safe to use and should not cause infection.