Prospective Controlled Study of Chin Augmentation by Means of Fat Grafting.

BACKGROUND

Although fat grafting is a valuable tool for different areas of plastic surgery, its use in the chin area has never been evaluated. A variety of methods are available for adjusting suboptimal chin morphology, and they each present drawbacks.

METHODS

A prospective controlled study was performed to evaluate whether fat grafting increases the chin volume and sagittal projection and to determine the magnitude and nature of the observed changes. Forty-two consecutive patients underwent chin augmentation by means of fat grafting between October of 2014 and January of 2016. All patient images were analyzed using a software program (Fiji package of ImageJ), which creates a three-dimensional version of the chin that is used to produce reliable estimates of the volume and gain in sagittal projection.

RESULTS

All 42 patients showed an increase in the sagittal projection and total volume at 4 weeks and 6 months after surgery. The sagittal projection increased from 4 mm to 12 mm (average, 8.9 mm) and from 3 mm to 11 mm (average, 7 mm) after 4 weeks and 6 months, respectively. The total volume increase ranged from 3 to 11 ml (average, 8 ml) after 4 weeks and from 3 to 8 ml (average, 7.4 ml) after 6 months.

CONCLUSION

Fat grafting to the chin area is a reliable method for improving chin volumes (to a maximum of approximately 10 cc in our study) and sagittal projections (to a maximum of approximately 11 mm in our study).

CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, IV.