What is breast lipofilling?

Breast lipofilling is used to correct the volume of the breasts that is deemed insufficient:

It is therefore possible to increase or restore the volume of the breast by transferring fat.
This technique was initially developed in reconstructive breast surgery.
It is derived from the technique of fat transfer at the face, which is also called lipostructure or lipofilling or lipomodelage.
This intervention can be associated in some cases with skin resection (breast lift).

Why have breast lipofilling?

The aesthetic breast lipofilling allows a moderate increase,

which is best suited for patients who want to regain a "prior shape" (after weight loss, pregnancy, lactation...)
and/or want a more "natural" solution, without any foreign body (breast implants).
This technique is possible only if the patient has enough fat from a donor area.

The consultation

At the first consultation,

The surgeon will listen to your wishes (size, shape, location of scars...)
and after you have been examined, he will inform you of the different options available
The surgeon begins by making a precise location of harvesting areas of fat and recipient sites (this deduction allows a significant improvement of the areas, realizing a real liposuction of fat excess.)
Photographs are made in order to follow the morphological evolution of the breasts.

What happens during a breast lipofilling?

The removal of the fatty tissue is performed atraumatically through small incisions hidden in natural folds, with a fine suction cannula.
The transfer of the fat tissue is made from incisions of 1 to 2 mm by using micro-cannulas.
The duration of the operation depends on the number of harvested zones, the amount of fat to be transferred, and a possible change of position.
It can vary from 1 hour to 4 hours depending on the case.

After a breast lipofilling

Tissue swelling (edema) at the harvested zones and the breasts appear during the 48 hours following the intervention, and will generally take 1-3 months to resolve.
Bruises appear in the early hours at the donor zones: they disappear within 10 to 20 days after surgery.
Some weariness may be felt for one to two weeks, especially if fat removal and liposuction was significant.
One should not expose the areas operated to sunlight or UV for at least 4 weeks.
After subsiding of edema and bruises, the result begins to appear within 1 month after the intervention, but the result close to the final result requires 3 to 6 months.
Moreover, since the fat tissue deposited remains alive, it is naturally subject to weight changes. In case of very significant weight loss, breast size will decrease. Conversely, in case of significant weight gain, the volume of the breasts may increase. Some weight stability is recommended to sustain the stability of the result.

The risks of breast lipofilling

A lipofilling of the breasts, although realized mainly for aesthetic reasons, remains a real surgery, which entails risks to surgery, however small it may be. We must distinguish the complications related to anesthesia and those related to surgery.

The scars of a breast lipofilling

This fat transfer technique leaves virtually no scarring.

During removal of the fatty tissue, small incisions of 1 to 2 mm hidden in natural folds are made, using a thin suction cannula.

The results

It is appreciated within 3 to 6 months after surgery

The breasts will generally have a larger volume and a smoother curve.
The silhouette is also improved with liposuction depending on the donor areas (hips, abdomen, outer thighs, knees).
However, normal aging of the breasts is not interrupted and the appearance of the breasts naturally changes over time.

Last update of this page : 06-06-2019

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Breast Lipofilling