Calf Augmentation and Reshaping with Autologous Fat Grafting

Despite multiple advantages of fat grafting for calf augmentation and re-shaping over traditional silicone calf implants, few reports have been published.

To report our technique and results with autologous fat grafting for calf augmentation and reshaping.

A retrospective review of the senior author's (JEV) experience with autologous fat grafting for calf augmentation was performed. Medial and lateral calf augmentation was accomplished with injection of prepared autologous lipoaspirate intramuscularly and subcutaneously.

Over a 5-year period, 13 patients underwent calf augmentation and reshaping with the described technique. Ten cases were bilateral (77%), and 3 cases (23%) were performed for congenital leg discrepancies. Mean 157 cc of prepared lipoaspirate was transferred per leg, with roughly 60% and 40% transferred into the medial and lateral calf, respectively. Four patients (31%) underwent a second round of autologous fat injection for further calf augmentation because they desired more volume. At mean 19.6 month follow-up, durable augmentation and improvement in calf contour was documented by comparison of standardized preoperative and postoperative photographs.

Autologous calf fat grafting is a viable alternative to traditional implant-based calf augmentation for congenital calf discrepancies and the aesthetic pseudo-varus deformity. This technique provides results comparable to those obtainable with traditional methods. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 4: Therapeutic.