Fat or Fiction? IMPROVED OPERATIVE OUTCOMES in Fat Transfer Procedures

I’ve never written a blog before, let alone one about a medical device or procedure.  With that confession out of the way, I want to tell you all, especially future patients, what I’ve learned this week about fat transfer surgeries.  For those who are not familiar with this procedure, it sounds exactly like what everyone who has looked in a mirror has ever thought: I wish I could put that, (zero in on undesirable area) there (eyes moving to chest or buttock area).  That’s what a fat transfer procedure is: moving extra fat from one area to another.  Sounds almost too good to be true, but it isn’t.  Medical science can do that.  We can do that, and have done that, for thousands of patients.

 Since the fat that is extracted during a liposuction procedure is the patient’s own cells, rejection isn’t an issue.  But there is an issue that patients don’t usually know or ask about; the survivability of the transferred fat cells.  The fat that is harvested contains other natural substances that may cause the transferred cells to die.  That cell death would lead to decreased volume in the area where fat was transferred.  Surgeons will overfill these areas to make up for fat cell loss.  Here’s where it gets interesting.  Like I said, most patients don’t know to ask about this the life of the transferred cells.  What we wish patients knew, was that there is a device called the Revolve.  

This device (which is single use only) pulls in the cells that are extracted.  (Stay with me, this is going to get a little graphic.)  The Revolve is the surgical equivalent of a salad spinner.  (I’m sorry, that was the only way I could explain it.  I’m a visual person.) It cleans the cells with warm saline and separates it from the other natural substances.  By cleaning the cells and removing the other substances, the transferred fat volume doesn’t decrease as much.  The survival rate more than doubles with this method.  Seriously.

This device is optimal for patients who may not have a lot of fat to be able to transfer.  For the rest of us, this method may be a way to get the volume that you’re looking for without worrying too much about volume decrease over time.  

If you are thinking about a fat transfer procedure: BBL (The Brazilian Buttocks Lift) or fat transfers to the Buttocks, Breast, Face, or Hips—then please ask your surgeon about utilizing the Revolve.  This little device can make all the difference in getting that apple bottom and keeping it round.