---
title: "Autologous Fat"
url: "https://worldwiki.io/entity/autologous-fat"
type: "concept"
language: "en"
updated: "2026-11-13 05:20:00"
independence_score: "100.00"
independent_mentions: "0"
authority_mentions: "0"
---

# Autologous Fat

Autologous fat is a person's own fat tissue, harvested by liposuction and used as a natural filler or graft material in the same person.

## Key facts

- **First reported fat graft**: 1893, Gustav Neuber moved fat from the arm to the orbital region to correct scarring [2]
- **Standardized technique**: Structural fat grafting (harvest, refinement, placement), published by Sydney Coleman in the 1990s [2]
- **Common donor sites**: Abdomen and thighs, harvested with a syringe or cannula after tumescent infiltration [3]
- **Processing and placement**: Decanting and/or centrifugation to separate viable fat, then injection in small droplets for blood supply [2]
- **Typical uses**: Facial volume loss, post-surgical or post-traumatic depressions, hemifacial atrophy, Romberg disease, lipodystrophy, breast, buttocks, hands [3]
- **Reported volume retention (temple grafting)**: 33–65% across 8 studies (719 patients); 46.4% with fat only vs 64.8% SVF-assisted [4]
- **Evidence level (temple grafting)**: 7 of 8 included studies were retrospective; most used subjective photo-based assessment; the authors call for RCTs with objective imaging [4]
- **US regulatory status**: Exempt from 21 CFR Part 1271 when removed and re-implanted in the same person during the same surgical procedure (§1271.15(b)) [5]
- **FDA guidance on exception scope**: CBER final guidance, 'Same Surgical Procedure Exception under 21 CFR 1271.15(b): Questions and Answers', issued November 2017 [6]
- **Known risks**: Partial resorption needing repeat grafting; lumps, necrosis or fibrosis with large volumes; rare fat embolism with skin necrosis, blindness or stroke [3]
- **Gluteal grafting safety recommendation**: Inject only into the subcutaneous space above the gluteal fascia; the societies support mandates for real-time ultrasound guidance [7]
- **Autologous (NCI)**: Taken from an individual's own tissues, cells or DNA [1]

## Overview

Autologous fat is fat tissue taken from a person's own body, usually by liposuction from the abdomen or thighs, and put back into the same person. After harvesting, the fat is usually decanted or centrifuged to remove fluid and debris. It is then injected in small amounts so that each deposit can pick up a blood supply. Uses include restoring lost facial volume, treating scars and contour defects, breast reconstruction and buttock augmentation. The immune system is not expected to reject the tissue, but some of the graft is absorbed. How much survives varies widely between reviews and depends on how it is measured. In the US, tissue that is removed and put back during the same surgical procedure is exempt from 21 CFR Part 1271 under §1271.15(b). Readers should check the retention evidence behind any technique and the risks, including fat embolism, which has caused deaths after gluteal fat grafting.

## Related entities

- used by → [SVF Breast Augmentation](https://worldwiki.io/entity/svf-breast-augmentation)
- used by → [Autologous Fat Grafting](https://worldwiki.io/entity/autologous-fat-grafting)
- specialist → [SC301의원](https://worldwiki.io/entity/sc301)

## Related questions

- [Can your body reject your own fat after a fat transfer?](https://worldwiki.io/q/can-your-body-reject-your-own-fat-after-a-fat-transfer) — No, not in the immune sense. Autologous fat comes from the same person, so it carries no risk of immune rejection and no allergy or viral-transmission concerns. Some of the graft is still usually lost
- [How much transferred autologous fat survives?](https://worldwiki.io/q/how-much-transferred-autologous-fat-survives) — The amount varies widely. One review gives a resorption range of 25% to 80%, and another reports survival of 50–90% even among experienced surgeons. A 2026 systematic review of fat transfer to the bre
- [Which body area is best for harvesting fat for grafting?](https://worldwiki.io/q/which-body-area-is-best-for-harvesting-fat-for-grafting) — No donor site has been clearly shown to be best. The lower abdomen and inner thigh have been reported to contain more adipose-derived stem cells. A 2026 systematic review found higher pooled survival 
- [Is autologous fat the same as SVF or stem cells?](https://worldwiki.io/q/is-autologous-fat-the-same-as-svf-or-stem-cells) — No. Autologous fat is the whole tissue: mature fat cells, blood-vessel cells, fibroblasts, preadipocytes, stromal cells and the structural matrix. The stromal vascular fraction (SVF) is a cell mixture
- [What are the risks of autologous fat transfer?](https://worldwiki.io/q/what-are-the-risks-of-autologous-fat-transfer) — A 2025 meta-analysis of 6,268 patients found an overall complication rate of 4.2%. It reported infection in 1.0% of patients, fat necrosis in 0.7%, induration or calcification in 0.6%, oil cysts in 0.

## References

Independent 7/7

1. [NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms: autologous](https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/autologous) — National Cancer Institute (NCI) · evidence level A · independent · evidence page: https://worldwiki.io/source/11
2. [Fat grafting history and applications](https://www.plasticsurgery.org/news/blog/fat-grafting-history-and-applications) — American Society of Plastic Surgeons · evidence level C · independent · evidence page: https://worldwiki.io/source/265
3. [지방이식 (Fat transplantation) — N의학정보](https://www.snuh.org/health/nMedInfo/nView.do?medid=BB000374) — 서울대학교병원 · evidence level C · independent · evidence page: https://worldwiki.io/source/36
4. [Autologous fat grafting for cosmetic temporal augmentation: a systematic review (Nasim S et al., Front Surg 2024;11:1410162)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11449973/) — Frontiers in Surgery (via PubMed Central) · evidence level B · independent · evidence page: https://worldwiki.io/source/266
5. [21 CFR § 1271.15 – Are there any exceptions from the requirements of this part?](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/21/1271.15) — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (reproducing the US Code of Federal Regulations) · evidence level B · independent · evidence page: https://worldwiki.io/source/267
6. [Same Surgical Procedure Exception under 21 CFR 1271.15(b): Questions and Answers Regarding the Scope of the Exception](https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents/same-surgical-procedure-exception-under-21-cfr-127115b-questions-and-answers-regarding-scope) — US Food and Drug Administration (CBER) · evidence level A · independent · evidence page: https://worldwiki.io/source/132
7. [Gluteal Fat Grafting: A joint safety statement](https://www.plasticsurgery.org/for-medical-professionals/publications/psn-extra/news/gluteal-fat-grafting-a-joint-safety-statement) — American Society of Plastic Surgeons / The Aesthetic Society / PSF / ASERF · evidence level C · independent · evidence page: https://worldwiki.io/source/268