Sponsored by MTF Biologics
Performing adjunct aesthetic and reconstructive procedures in multiple settings with increased efficiency can create a major advantage in practice – especially when autologous fat transfers are involved.
“I use autologous fat transfers for secondary procedures in the hospital, the ambulatory surgery center, and in the office – sometimes by myself,” said Armando Davila, MD, an aesthetic, microsurgical and reconstructive plastic surgeon, as well as the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the 
Pittsburgh Center for Plastic Surgery (Pittsburgh, Penn.). The key to Dr. Davila’s success is the LipoGrafter™ kit from MTF Biologics (Edison, N.J.). “The fat goes from the patient to a set of four 250 mL storage bags in the LipoGrafter kit, then directly back to the patient, without fat washing or waste,” he explained. “The fat never leaves the system, substantially increasing efficiency.”
LipoGrafter features the spring-loaded KVAC® syringe, a vacuum-creating mechanism that pulls the fat, blood and fluids from the patient’s body into a storage bag, without the need for motorized wall suction. Gravity-induced sedimentation causes the blood and fluids to separate from the fat and descend to the bottom of the bag. A syringe is then used to pull
only the volume of fat that the surgeon needs at any given time – 1 mL to 5 mL or more – directly from the storage bags, enabling the instillation of precise amounts of fat into target areas.
“I have used three or four systems before settling on the LipoGrafter,” explained Dr. Davila. “Other systems involved a cumbersome and messy fat-washing process, producing errors and poor total fat volume because the washing introduced extra fluids and other problems. These systems also required me to use more than one device for each case, adding to costs. The systems were unreliable and required a lot of extra steps.”
Dr. Davila explained that the LipoGrafter comes in a box with all the needed components, except for cannulas, which are individually selected to meet varied case needs. “Because it is self-contained, the LipoGrafter system does not need additional pieces, such as tubing or cannisters. Only one assistant is needed, without having to hand off a lot of items. There are no extra tubes and cables. I do not have to open dozens of syringes or other materials, resulting in a cost savings on equipment and a time-saving benefit.”
In avascular fat grafts, only the most peripheral layers of adipocytes survive hypoxia.1,2 LipoGrafter can help the practitioner achieve a high level of adipocyte viability. “There is a lot of debate about retention in general,” reflected Dr. Davila. “One reason the fat retention works so well with the LipoGrafter is that the low pressure applied to the fat is gentler than wall suction, minimizing damage to the harvested fat,” he noted. “I can also inject the fat back into the body with small-diameter tubing, preventing excessive fat from clumping and becoming necrotic. I have gradually transferred 300 cc to 400 cc of fat into a single breast and have not had a single case with an appreciable volume of fat necrosis. The LipoGrafter system is predictable, enabling me to finish very swiftly, all within the same apparatus.”
References:
1. Eto H, Kato H, Suga H, et al. The fate of adipocytes after non-vascularized fat grafting: Evidence of early death and replacement of adipocytes. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2012;129:1081–1092. 2. Kato H, Mineda K, Eto H, et al. Degeneration, regeneration, and cicatrization after fat grafting: Dynamic total tissue remodeling during the first 3 months. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2014;133:303e–313e
