Structural Fat Grafting for Craniofacial Trauma Using Manual Technique for Processing Fat Graft Material

Clinical use of autologous fat grafting in humans was described as early as 1893, when Neuber published his report of transferring multiple small particles of fat to fill a soft tissue depression. Over the past three decades, autologous fat grafting has become a common procedure in clinical plastic surgery, and is also employed by clinicians in other specialties. The refinement of liposuction techniques in the 1980's made it possible to harvest the adipose grafts with low risk and without the need for a significant incision. The liposuction aspirate could simply be reinjected at a different site. Specialized equipment has been developed for fat grafting and is commercially available from a number of sources. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons 2007 procedural statistics show that over 65,000 fat grafting procedures were performed in the United States (www.plasticsurgery.org) during the previous year. Fat grafting may represent a superior method of facial reconstruction after severe trauma, but the results can be impacted by resorption of fat volume over time. The specific aims of the study are: 1. Assess facial appearance and soft tissue volume before and after autologous fat grafting using CT scans and 3D photography. 2. Assess cellular properties of the cells within the fat graft 3. Comparison of cotton rolling to centrifugation method of autologous fat grafting 4. Measure of quality of life in patients before and after autologous fat grafting using validated psychosocial measures. Ten (10) subjects 18 years of age and older will be enrolled to this trial.