Autologous Micro-Fat Transplantation for Facial Sunken Treatment: Single-Center Experience

Facial sunken deformities, congenital or acquired, are common in clinical practice for the reduction of soft or hard tissues. In clinical practice, filler injection and tissue transplantation are often used to improve facial contour. Among these, autologous fat grafting for treating facial contour defects is most common in clinical practice. Micro-fat, with relatively intact fat lobules, presents outstanding subcutaneous volumetric restoration and improvement of skin quality in skin rejuvenation.

This study showed our technique and experience of autologous micro-fat transplantation and its clinical effect on facial depression. The advantages and disadvantages between micro-fat transplantation and ordinary fat grafting for facial depression were also discussed.

This study reviewed 22 facial sunken patients with micro-fat transplantation from February 2018 to December 2020. Participants under evaluation included 4 males and 18 females, with an average age of 38 years old. Surgical outcomes (defect augmentation, skin improvement), satisfaction (subjective and objective), and complication evaluations were performed for all participants.

During the follow-up (9.3±2.0 mo), the autologous micro-fat grafting led to prominent morphological adjustment with a low complication rate (1/22). Fourteen of the 22 patients (63.6%) achieved both objective and subjective satisfaction after a single treatment.

This autologous micro-fat filling technology is a safe and ideal method for facial sunken correction, with persistent and stable postoperative outcomes.