AlloClae can be used to pre-expand the breasts before another procedure. What this means is that it can be used to treat the breast to expand its fullness and shape, allowing for more refined results after future fat transfer breast enhancements.
One of the big limiting factors of fat transfers in the past was the skin envelope of the breast itself. There is a limit to the amount of fat that can be injected into the breast because of how tight the envelope is. When you inject too much fat, you risk the development of necrosis, or the transferred fat does not survive.
By performing a breast expansion, you can create a space and stretch that is going to accept the fat transfer in an improved manner. This allows for greater overall shaping and contouring of the body, but once that fat is harvested, it may also be used for breast enhancement.
AlloClae is changing how we perform non-implant-based breast enhancement procedures. It is an off-the-shelf process fat that is taken from donors and may be used to reshape and augment the breasts without the use of saline or silicone implants.
Many plastic surgeons will use AlloClae for one of two things: pre-expansion of the breast or recontouring.
Plastic surgeons will use AlloClae to increase the areas where fat may be readministered in the breast during a fat transfer. This is because the limiting factor tends to be the skin envelope of the breast, as you have to have the injected fat surrounded by good, healthy breast tissue to get what we call “take,” or survivability of the fat.
If the skin envelope is too tight and there is no room for the fat, problems and unevenness may develop. We avoid this by stretching the breast envelope, creating space for those future fat transfers. The other use of AlloClae is to continue using it to improve the overall shape of the breasts if you lack natural fat to transfer.
For many of our patients, the ability to pre-expand their breasts is going to be extremely intriguing, as most patients want to maximize their fat transfers. In the past, patients who received fat transfers were only able to attain a one cup-size improvement. I truly believe that if we can expand and improve the overall breast recipient site before performing the fat transfer for your augmentation, you can create space within the breast envelope and maximize your results. This way, all of the fat is being used because we have optimized the recipient site for your fat transfer.
There is no question that we can also use AlloClae after a fat transfer to perform some final touch-ups to the breasts. People often want to make some subtle changes to their results, whether their breast augmentation was performed using implants or with a fat transfer. We try to avoid performing a second surgery, which is where the steps in our breast enhancement procedures may vary.
As you know, most of our patients are very busy. They want a rapid recovery with minimal downtime. By using AlloClae, patients have a lot of flexibility to customize the journey of their breast enhancement. The timing of each patient’s pre-expansion will vary depending on their specific needs. Typically, we try to perform pre-expansions at least 3 months before a fat transfer or breast augmentation procedure. There are no questions you can perform this further or sooner in advance, as some patients may have very tight breasts due to scar tissue or damage, or congenital concerns such as tuberous breasts.
The uniqueness of the AlloClae lies within its structural strength, with it being 60% adipose site cells membrane and 40% extracellular matrix, allowing for enhanced reshaping and restructuring of the breasts. Ultimately, this process of using AlloClae to pre-expand the breasts will help you improve the results of your fat transfer breast augmentation.
This blog was written by Dr. John Franco of Austin Plastic Surgeon, a board-certified plastic surgeon. Please consult with your plastic surgeon regarding your options for pre-expanding your breasts before your fat transfer procedure.
