What does this procedure treat?
Selected areas of lost soft-tissue volume beneath intact, healed skin.
It does not replace missing skin, repair damaged bone, or provide immediate coverage for an open wound.
Fat Transfer & Grafting
Traumatic / Acquired Soft-Tissue Defect Fat Grafting
Fat grafting uses your own fat to restore volume beneath healed soft-tissue defects caused by injury, surgery, or other acquired changes.
Where does the fat come from?
Another area of your body, such as the abdomen or thighs.
The surgeon removes fat with liposuction, prepares it, and places small amounts into the defect.
Will one treatment be enough?
More than one session may be needed.
Some transferred fat is absorbed. Scar tissue, blood supply, and the size of the defect influence what can be achieved safely.
01 · Overview
Restoring volume after tissue loss
Fat grafting transfers fat from one part of your body to another. For an acquired soft-tissue defect, the aim is to improve a localized hollow or contour change left by injury, surgery, or tissue loss—not simply to enlarge a healthy body area. [1]
The surgeon assesses the depth of the defect, the condition of the skin and scar, and the available blood supply. Fat must establish a blood supply to survive, so a tight or heavily scarred area may limit how much can be placed at one time. [1]
Fat grafting is different from a skin graft or tissue flap. It adds volume beneath existing skin rather than replacing an open skin surface or moving a block of tissue with its blood supply. Some defects need scar revision or another reconstructive approach instead. [2]
- Main purpose
- Reconstructive volume restoration
- Material used
- Your own fat
- Treatment areas
- A healed defect and a fat-donor site
- Treatment plan
- May involve staged sessions
Can fat grafting improve a scar?
Adding volume may soften the appearance of a depressed scar. A scar attached to deeper tissue may also need surgical release. Improvements in tightness, pain, or skin quality are less predictable and should not be assumed.
When is a defect ready for treatment?
The wound generally needs to be closed, infection controlled, and the cause of tissue loss understood. Your surgeon may recommend waiting for healing to stabilize or coordinating treatment with other specialists.
02 · Concerns & Goals
Changes you may want to discuss
A healed injury or operation can leave a hollow, an uneven contour, or a scar that feels attached to deeper tissue. Your priorities help guide the discussion.
A visible hollow
Loss of tissue beneath the skin can leave a depression that shows through clothing or changes the outline of an exposed area.
Uneven contour
An injury or previous operation may leave a step-off or an uneven transition between the affected area and nearby tissue.
A depressed or tethered scar
A scar may sit below the surrounding skin or pull inward. Fat alone may not correct the attachment causing that pull.
Reduced soft-tissue padding
Thin coverage over deeper structures may be uncomfortable or vulnerable. The surgeon must assess whether fat grafting can provide useful padding or whether more substantial coverage is needed.
03 · Options
How the approaches differ
These approaches may be considered separately or together. The safest choice depends on the defect, nearby tissue, and your overall health.
Localized fat grafting
Adds small amounts of fat beneath a defined depression.
How it worksFat is harvested with liposuction, prepared, and injected in small amounts across the treatment area.
May suitSelected healed defects with adequate skin coverage and blood supply.
Main tradeoffRetention varies, and residual unevenness or further treatment may remain.
Staged fat grafting
Builds correction gradually over separate procedures.
How it worksThe surgeon reassesses healing and retained volume before planning another session.
May suitLarger defects or scarred areas where a single large-volume transfer would be unsuitable.
Main tradeoffRequires additional recovery periods, visits, and expense.
Scar release with fat grafting
Addresses a tethered scar as well as missing volume.
How it worksThe surgeon releases selected scar attachments and places fat beneath the area when appropriate.
May suitDepressed scars that are attached to deeper tissue.
Main tradeoffRelease adds bleeding and tissue-injury risks, and the scar can tighten again.
Fat grafting after other reconstruction
Refines contour after the main tissue defect has been repaired.
How it worksFat is added after a flap, skin graft, or other reconstruction has healed sufficiently.
May suitResidual hollows or contour differences after necessary wound coverage.
Main tradeoffFat grafting cannot substitute for the structural repair or durable coverage the original defect requires.
Fat transfer and scar procedures have different roles. Your surgeon should explain which part of the defect each proposed step is intended to address. [1] [2].
Does processing the fat make this a stem-cell treatment?
Standard fat grafting transfers your own fatty tissue. It should not be understood as a proven stem-cell treatment or a guarantee of tissue regeneration. Ask what processing is planned and what evidence supports any added technique.
Can a very deep defect be filled with fat alone?
Not always. Missing muscle, exposed bone or hardware, poor blood supply, or unstable skin may call for another type of reconstruction. Examination and sometimes imaging help define what is missing.
04 · Results
What may improve and what may remain
Contour rather than complete restoration
A hollow may become less noticeable without disappearing completely.
- The original injury and surrounding scar can limit correction.
- Fat grafting does not restore missing bone, muscle strength, or nerve function.
Volume changes during healing
Early fullness is not the final result.
- Swelling settles and some transferred fat is absorbed.
- Assessment usually takes months rather than days, and another session may be discussed.
Long-term changes remain possible
Surviving fat can persist, but the area can still change.
- Weight changes and aging can affect the transferred fat and surrounding tissue.
- Future injury, disease, or treatment may alter the reconstructed area.
Fat retention and the amount of correction vary. Discuss a realistic range of improvement rather than a promised final size or shape. [1]
05 · Recovery
Planning your recovery
Recovery at a glance
- Stay after surgery
- Determined by Your Surgeon
- Initial recovery at home
- Varies by Individual
- Return to desk work
- Varies by Procedure and Work Activity
- Light daily activities
- Based on Individual Recovery
- Strenuous exercise
- Based on Surgeon Clearance
Returning to work does not mean fully healed. Follow your surgeon’s instructions; strenuous activity requires clearance.
Recovery involves both the donor site and the reconstructed area. Your instructions will depend on the location, treatment volume, scar release, and any additional reconstruction.
Step 1 · Day of the procedure
Treatment day
Anesthesia and discharge arrangements depend on the planned scope. If you go home the same day, arrange transportation and any support required by your team.
Step 2 · First several days
Early recovery
Bruising, swelling, and soreness can affect both sites. Your team will explain wound care, positioning, and whether a donor-site garment is appropriate.
Step 3 · Following weeks
Gradual return to routine
Activity increases according to healing and the demands of your work. Returning to work does not mean that internal healing is complete.
Step 4 · Following months
Settling and reassessment
As swelling settles, your surgeon assesses retained volume, scar behavior, and whether further treatment would be useful.
Planning everyday activities
ActivityGeneral planning contextWhat affects the plan
Desk workPlanning context: Depends on soreness, medications, and the location of the graft.What affects it: Sitting or desk positioning may place pressure on the reconstructed area.
DrivingPlanning context: Resume only when cleared and able to move and react safely without impairing medication.What affects it: Pain, restricted movement, and seat pressure can interfere with safe control.
Exercise and liftingPlanning context: Ask for a gradual return plan that accounts for both treatment sites. [1]What affects it: Strain, friction, or impact may aggravate healing tissue.
Pressure on the graftPlanning context: Positioning advice differs for the face, trunk, and limbs.What affects it: Your team may limit direct pressure or recommend specific support.
Follow your surgical team's instructions rather than a general timetable. Ask your surgical team whether compresses are appropriate and exactly how to use them.
Before your procedure
- Share details of the original injury, previous reconstruction, radiation, infection, or implanted hardware.
- Bring a complete list of medicines, supplements, allergies, and previous anesthesia problems.
- Discuss nicotine use and the team's required plan for stopping before and after surgery.
- Ask which medicines need adjustment; do not stop prescribed treatment on your own.
- Arrange transportation, home support, and work accommodations appropriate to the planned anesthesia and treatment sites.
- Confirm wound-care supplies, follow-up arrangements, and whom to contact after hours.
Will I need compression?
A garment may be recommended for the liposuction donor site, but pressure over the grafted area may require a different approach. Ask exactly where a garment should sit, how tight it should be, and how long to wear it.
When can another session be planned?
Your surgeon will usually wait until swelling has settled and the retained volume can be judged. The interval depends on tissue healing, scarring, and any other treatment you need.
06 · Safety
Risks and what your clinician assesses
Temporary bruising, swelling, tenderness, and altered sensation can occur at both sites. Symptoms should generally improve; new or worsening changes deserve a call to your team.
Infection or delayed healing
Either site can develop infection or a wound-healing problem. Previously injured or poorly supplied tissue may need particular care.
Bleeding or fluid collection
Blood or fluid can collect beneath the skin and may need drainage or another procedure.
Fat loss or uneven correction
Unpredictable absorption can leave undercorrection, asymmetry, or contour irregularities. Additional surgery may be considered.
Fat necrosis, cysts, or lumps
Fat that does not survive can form firm areas, oil cysts, or calcifications. A new lump may require examination, imaging, or treatment.
Donor-site or nearby tissue injury
Liposuction and injection can cause persistent numbness, pain, scarring, contour changes, or injury to nearby structures.
Rare serious complications
Anesthesia complications, blood clots, or fat entering a blood vessel can be life-threatening. Facial injections carry rare risks of blindness or stroke. The risks depend partly on the injection site and technique.
Discuss these risks and your individual health history with your surgeon. [1]
What your clinician assesses
- Whether the wound is stable and whether infection or the original disease remains active.
- Skin coverage, scar tethering, blood supply, and the depth of missing tissue.
- Available donor fat, weight stability, and previous liposuction.
- Medical conditions, nicotine use, medications, clotting history, and expectations.
07 · Costs
What makes up the Total Procedure & Care Cost
Compare written estimates for the same planned scope, including donor sites, grafted areas, scar release, and whether treatment is expected to involve separate sessions.
Surgeon
Surgical care
Surgeon's services for harvesting, preparing, and placing fat, plus any planned scar work.
Ask your surgeonAsk whether additional sessions or revision procedures would have separate fees.
Facility
Anesthesia and facility
Anesthesia services and use of the operating or procedure facility.
Ask your surgeonConfirm the planned anesthesia, setting, and any separately billed providers.
Supplies
Supplies and follow-up
Items such as dressings, prescribed garments, and postoperative visits.
Ask your surgeonAsk which supplies, medications, imaging, and follow-up appointments are included.
TRC
Patient Services
Any separately identified care-coordination or administrative support.
Ask TRCAsk whether there is a charge, what it covers, and whether the service is optional.
Your written estimate should explain the services included, any separate charges, and payment terms.
08 · Questions
Common questions
Is this the same as cosmetic fat transfer?
The harvesting and transfer steps may be similar, but the purpose here is to address a defect caused by injury, surgery, or acquired tissue loss. Scarred tissue can require a different plan from an uninjured area.
Can it treat an open wound?
Standard contour-restoring fat grafting is not a substitute for wound closure or coverage of exposed structures. An open wound needs its own assessment and reconstruction plan.
Can it relieve pain?
Some patients seek better padding or less scar tightness, but pain relief is not assured. Nerve injury, infection, hardware, and other causes of pain may need different treatment.
Will insurance cover it?
Coverage depends on your plan, the reason for reconstruction, documentation, and authorization requirements. A reconstructive purpose does not guarantee payment. Ask your insurer about the proposed procedures and any staged sessions.
0 consultation questions in your plan
View in My TRC workspaceMy Aesthetic Plan
Prepare for your consultation
Bring these to help your consultation:
- Agree on the defect being treated and the limits of the proposed correction.
- Obtain a site-specific recovery plan and after-hours contact details.
- Review a written estimate that addresses possible staged treatment.
View My Aesthetic Plan
Choices stay in this visit until saving to your account completes. Nothing is sent to a clinician.
Sources
- [1]Cleveland Clinic — Fat TransferGeneral fat harvesting and injection steps, donor areas, variable fat survival, repeat treatment, recovery, and complications including infection, fat necrosis, and rare vascular events.
- [2]American Society of Plastic Surgeons — Scar RevisionLimits of scar correction and alternative surgical approaches, including scar revision, skin grafting, and flap reconstruction.
Photographs are illustrative scenes, not patients, staff, facilities or outcomes. This information does not replace a personal assessment by your treating clinician.