Structural fat grafting in complex reconstructive surgery.

J Craniofac Surg 19(1):187-91 (2008) PMID 18216687

The use of adipous tissue transfer for the correction of maxillo-facial defects was reported for the first time at the end of the 19 century and has been the subject of numerous studies. Grafted fat tissue has been used for years as an excellent filler during facial enhancement and recontouring. Several techniques have been proposed for harvesting and grafting the fat. However, due to the damage caused by excessive adipose tissue during these maneuvers, the results were not satisfying. The situation required a larger amount of fat to be harvested even for small corrections. In 1988, the American plastic surgeon Sydney R. Coleman personally developed a technique called Structural Fat Grafting (SFG), which allows the fat to be harvested and injected with minimal risk of necrosis and reabsorption.