Immediate fat and nanofat-enriched fat grafting in breast reduction for scar management.

Early human evidence such as case series or small samples is exploring possible benefits.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Reduction mammoplasty can be successful but surgical scars may continue to be a most undesirable and unavoidable outcome. Various medical and non-invasive methods are available to minimize scar formation but as yet no methods have been discovered to eliminate them. We hypothesize that immediate fat and nanofat-enriched fat graft transfer may improve the scar quality and optimize results. This prospective study comprised 45 superomedial pedicle wise-pattern breast reduction patients divided into three groups of 15 in a randomized fashion. The control group had no additional injections whereas the other two groups received injections of fat and nanofat-enriched fat grafts immediately under their surgery scars, respectively. Surgical scar formation was evaluated at six months and scars were scored using the Vancouver scar scale and a visual analogue scale. Fat and nanofat-enriched fat graft-injected groups scored significantly better on all items of the Vancouver scar scale, except for scar height, compared to the control group ( p < 0.05). Visual analogue scores were significantly lower in the fat and nanofat-enriched fat graft-injected groups compared to the control group ( p < 0.05). In breast reduction patients, simultaneous fat and nanofat-enriched fat grafting appears to be a safe and promising strategy for scar management.

Evidence level

Early human evidence such as case series or small samples is exploring possible benefits.

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