Does Water - Jet Force Make a Difference in Fat Grafting ? In Vitro and In Vivo Evidence of Improved Lipoaspirate Viability and Fat Graft Survival EXPERIMENTAL

127 Autologous fat grafts have been used to treat tissue deficiencies for over 100 years.1 They have been considered the ideal softtissue filler by most investigators, because they are inexpensive, abundant, and easy to obtain.2 However, the potential high absorption rate (25 to 90 percent) of grafted fat, which may be attributable to damage to the grafts caused by tissue harvesting and grafting procedures, often leads to unpredictable outcomes.3–7 Investigators continue attempting to find the optimal harvesting method that will reduce damage to fat grafts. As in the Coleman technique, minimized suction pressure and gentle movements are recommended to protect fat grafts.8–10 Water-jet–assisted liposuction is a new method for fat harvesting that relies on a fan-shaped water jet to assist liposuction. In this method, the liposuction tube is connected to a negative-pressure pump and the water pump so that the fan-shaped water can jet at a specified frequency during liposuction (Fig. 1). With the assistance of water jet force, adipocytes can be gently detached from the tissue and the mechanical injury to lipoaspirates thereby reduced.11,12 However, there has not yet been a systematic, randomized, controlled study of the waterjet–assisted liposuction procedure in terms of its