Fat Transfer to Buttocks and Abdominoplasty, Raleigh, NC*

Many women wish to have improvements in their abdominal contour and have fat grafting to the buttock. There are some concerns with performance of this combination. Ideally, after fat grafting to the buttock, avoidance of the sitting position or pressure on the buttocks is desired to ensure good fat graft survival. During abdominoplasty, the initial recovery is done either sitting or laying on the buttock and it is not ideal for fat survival. Measures can be made to reduce pressure such as pillows and positioning and avoidance of sitting on hard surfaces.However, some undue pressure is expected. This 46-year-old woman desired improvements in her abdomen and buttock. She did not have large deposits of fat and wanted improvements in shape but not necessarily a large buttock. She underwent abdominoplasty with liposuction of the flanks and abdomen and back and placement of 300 cc of fat per buttock. This is a fairly modest augmentation however it did improve the appearance and projection of her buttock. Photographs here are taken one year after the procedure showing generally good graft take. Fat transfer does involve some degree of loss of fat with estimates of fat survival between 60 and 80% so most women do experience some reduction and results with time. All of the fat harvested is also not necessarily available for transfer as oil and broken cells need to be washed and removed from the transferred fat. Therefore not all fat harvested can the injected.