Low harvest pressure enhances autologous fat graft viability

Autologous fat grafting has been widely used in reconstructive and cosmetic surgery. Harvesting techniques play a key role in graft viability and outcomes. The authors investigated the effect of harvest pressure on adipocyte survival and viability of the surviving cells. Abdominal lipoaspiration was performed at high pressure (-760 mmHg) and low pressure (-250 mmHg) on three patients. Adipocyte survival and cell viability were measured. Adipocyte count immediately after harvest was 47 percent higher when aspirated at low pressure compared with high pressure. In addition, the cell viability was significantly higher at day 7 with low-pressure aspiration. The authors also describe a simple technique for aspirating at low pressures to obtain a controlled, consistent, reproducible, and good quality graft.