[How to treat fat necrosis after lipofilling into the breast?]

Fat necrosis is a phenomenon that has been known for a long time in surgery. The fat necrosis is produced because of tissue ischemia and it is also known as cytosteatonecrosis. These lesions can appear with different manifestations: indurations or cysts. Fat necrosis develops in breast aesthetic surgery (breast reduction) or reconstructive breast surgery (after abdominal flaps like TRAM or DIEP). In our department we have been using fat grafting into the breast since 1998 and it has really improved the aesthetic results in breast surgery. Also the fat necrosis lesions can appear after fat grafting, and they should be identified in order to avoid worrying the patient and other doctors that are treating her. The purpose of this article is to present different aspects of fat necrosis after surgery and therapeutic approaches to these problems.

The two authors have noticed the frequency of fat necrosis in the breast after fat grafting into the breast in aesthetic surgery (asymmetry, deformity, lipoaugmentation, improvement of aesthetic sequelae) and reconstructive surgery (after total mastectomy or to improve the aspect of sequelae after conservative surgery). A retrospective study was performed including a homogenous series of consecutive cases that needed breast lipofilling, operated by the two authors. Fat was harvested with cannula after infiltration. The adipose tissue was preparated with a short centrifugation. Fat grafting was realized as backward injections. The tolerance of the performed technique has been studied with the discovery of the fat necrosis lesions after surgery up to one-year follow-up evaluation.

Between 1998 and 2013, 2236 fat transfers have been performed by the two authors and were included in a series of consecutive homogenous cases treated by using the same surgical technique. The fat necrosis incidence after lipofilling in the breast shows two frequency curves: the first one with a frequency of 15% (the first 50 cases) and then decreases and stabilizes at about 3%. A second frequency curve appears after 500 cases and fat necrosis has a frequency of 10%. The clinical symptoms are variable. The oil cysts are the most frequent and the earliest manifestation. They can be treated in consultation by punction. The cysts with thick yellow filling and the indurate areas of fat necrosis are rare and can be treated by lipofragmentation using a canula.

The fat necrosis lesion is a classic phenomena, and can be a source of inconveniences for the patients and the surgeons after breast surgery. All the efforts should be directed to avoid fat necrosis. However, fat necrosis is not rare and the surgeon should learn to resolve it without worrying the patient or asking for expensive exams.