Fat grafting has increased in popularity for many reasons in the field of breast enhancing. Liposuction of the donor areas can shape the donor areas and provide grafting material to enhance breast shape and size. Donor areas could potentially include any area of relative fat excess; the abdomen, flanks, thighs and back are commonly utilized. 

Fat grafting can be beneficial to enhance both implant based and other tissue based reconstructions. Small volume fat grafting to the breasts can be used to treat contour deformities, asymmetries, and improve the quality of radiated skin and breast tissue.

Large volume and mega volume fat transfers are also options for some patients looking to reconstruct larger breast volumes or exchange existing implants for one’s own tissue. For larger breast volumes, serial fat grafting can replace the volume provided by the implant with transferred fat. Some patients without pre-existing implants may also benefit from pre-expansion with the BRAVA system (breast suction cups that help expand breast tissue and increase the size of the recipient bed). Transferred fat cells also provide rejuvenating benefits to skin affected by radiation. 

While there is a relatively low complication rate associated with prosthetic breast implants, for those patients experiencing issues such as pain, tissue thinning, asymmetry, malposition, and capsular contracture, traditional methods of treatment have a newer alternative. While these issues have classically been treated with implant removal and/or replacement, capsulectomy, capsulotomy, change in implant plane, acellular dermal matrix placement, and autologous flap reconstruction, fat transfer has been shown to be effective in restoring breast volume without maintaining the theoretical long-term risks associated with the implants themselves.