Doctors have developed a new fat grafting procedure that can double a patient’s breast size without the need for foreign implants. But it’s what happens in the weeks before the surgery that makes the difference.
The results of a new study published in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery indicate that the use of a bra-like vacuum device for several weeks before surgery can stretch and expand the breast tissue. When a patient enters the operation, her stretched breast tissue has more room for the fat, which is liposuctioned from another part of the body (usually the thigh) and grafted into the breast.
Fat grafting procedures don’t use foreign implants and often offer more natural and less risky results to breast augmentation patients. However, one of the biggest drawbacks of the procedure is that it usually can’t increase a patient’s breast by more than one cup size. Drs. Daniel Alexander Del Vecchio and Louis Paul Bucky, who authored the study, found that this problem could be overcome with pre-surgical breast expansion: “Pre-expansion to the breast allows for mega-volume (over 300 cc) grafting with reproducible, long lasting results that can be achieved in less than two hours.”
Study Highlights
- 46 breasts belonging to 25 women
- patients had first-time enhancement, implant removal, or deformity correction
- average amount of fat transplanted was 300cc
Study Results (After 6 Months)
- significant improvements in size
- soft and natural appearance and feel
- no cysts, masses, or other abnormalities found under MRI
The surgeons were able to perform a breast fat transfer procedure in less than two hours after some practice. No significant complications were reported.
More research is needed to determine what the long-term implications and safety concerns might be with fat transfer techniques such as this one. New procedures and techniques are constantly being developed, and women who may be considering full, natural breast enhancement in the near future will likely see an expanding range of options available to them.
