Secondary lipofilling after breast reconstruction with implants

Area of Science:

• Plastic Surgery
• Reconstructive Surgery
• Aesthetic Medicine

Background:

• Lipoinjection is a recognized low-risk procedure for soft-tissue defect correction.
• Breast reconstruction with prosthesis can result in contour deformities.
• Addressing these deformities is a common challenge for reconstructive surgeons.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the caseload of fat grafting used for breast asymmetry after prosthesis reconstruction.
• To evaluate the aesthetic outcomes and patient satisfaction following lipomodelling in this context.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective review of 20 patients undergoing secondary autologous fat injection after various mastectomy techniques between 2008 and 2011.
• Exclusion of patients who received postoperative radiotherapy.
• Assessment of aesthetic satisfaction using a Visual Analog Scale (VAS, 1-10) by both patients and an independent surgeon preoperatively and at one and six months postoperatively.

Main Results:

• No major complications were observed postoperatively.
• Donor sites healed well with no visible scarring.
• Patient aesthetic satisfaction scores improved from an average of 5.2 preoperatively to 7.9 at one month and 7.2 at six months.
• Surgeon assessments showed similar improvements, with average scores rising from 4.9 preoperatively to 7.6 at one month and 7.1 at six months.

Conclusions:

• Acquired contour deformities after breast reconstruction are common and present a therapeutic challenge.
• Lipomodelling (fat grafting) provides an easy-to-perform and predictable cosmetic solution.
• The study demonstrated significant improvement in cosmetic outcomes and high patient satisfaction.