Association of Autologous Fat Injection in Facial Artery With Ophthalmological Complications
November 2018
in “
JAMA facial plastic surgery
”
TLDR Injecting minced fat into the facial artery can cause severe eye problems and death, more so than other fat types, and larger amounts increase these risks.
In a study involving 64 adult New Zealand white rabbits, researchers investigated the association between autologous fat filling and ophthalmic complications. The rabbits underwent fat harvest and were injected with varying volumes (0.2 mL or 0.4 mL) of minced fat, fat granules, fat lipid, or saline into the facial artery. The results showed that injection of 0.2 mL of fat granules and fat lipid resulted in 100% and 62.5% ophthalmic complications, respectively, while saline injections caused no complications. When the volume was increased to 0.4 mL, the complications rose to 87.5% for fat granules and 12.5% for fat lipid. Minced fat injections led to 100% ophthalmic complications and death at both volumes. The mortality rates for 0.2 mL emboli injections were 37.5% and increased to 100% with 0.4 mL injections. The study concluded that minced fat injections were associated with higher ophthalmic complications compared to fat granules and fat lipid, and that increasing the injection volume raised the risk of morbidity and mortality.
