A recent issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, an official publication of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), reports that a new type of breast expansion procedure is on the rise. The surgery uses fatty deposits removed from the patients’ own bodies in place of the implants which are traditionally used in breast augmentation procedures. The results boast a “soft and natural” appeal according to the surgeons working on the forefront of the new trend.

While fat transfer techniques themselves are not considered a new or cutting edge technology, their popularity has seen a recent incline as reputable surgeons have begun to re-explore their potential. The study published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery was based on a series of breast augmentation and reformation surgeries performed on twenty-five women. All of the women treated with the fat transfer procedure achieved an increase of nearly two-fold in their bust size. Additionally, upon a six month follow-up, it was confirmed that none of them had developed cysts, excessive scarring or other complications.

The procedure itself can be performed in just under two hours, but it must be preceded by several weeks of pre-expansion therapy. Pre-expansion therapy involves wearing less supportive under-clothing that allows the breasts’ tissues to naturally stretch and expand. In a few cases these gentle pre-expansion techniques are insufficient, and the tissues of the breast must be surgically altered in order to allow for successful enlargement.

“Pre-expansion to the breast allows for mega-volume (over 300 cc) grafting with reproducible, long lasting results that can be achieved in less than two hours,” report the study’s authors, Drs. Daniel Alexander Del Vecchio and Louis Paul Bucky.

The new procedure is still being researched, but high hopes seem warranted with the favorable outcomes achieved so far. The results will need to be re-evaluated after a longer lapse of time, and the procedure’s cost, required time, efficacy and safety will need to be compared with other, more conventional breast augmentation surgeries.

“These results serve as a standard,” conclude Drs. Del Vecchio and Bucky, “to objectively compare other techniques of fat grafting to the breast in the future.”

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