[The influence of different local anaesthetics on the viability of preadipocytes].

BACKGROUND

Autogenous fat transfer with lipoinjection for soft-tissue augmentation is a commonly used technique in plastic surgery. The efficiency of this technique has often been discussed and authors still describe very different results after autologous fat transplantation. The purpose of our investigations was to evaluate the effect of the various local anaesthetics, used in the region of harvesting, on the viability of preadipocytes.

MATERIAL AND METHOD: Preadipocytes were isolated from human subcutaneous adipose tissue samples and incubated with lidocaine, prilocaine, articaine + epinephrine, ropivacaine or our standardised tumescent solution for 30 minutes. NaCl solution (0.9 %) served as a control. Vitality was measured with FACS analysis.

RESULTS

There are significant differences in the viability of the preadipocytes after incubation with the different substances. Viability ranged from > 90 % to less then 20 %.

CONCLUSION

For the first time the influence of local anaesthesia on the viability of preadipocytes has been investigated. The significant differences between the substances could explain the varying results in autologous fat transplantation. Our results should help by choosing the right local anaesthesia for infiltrating the donor site.