Comparative study of the integration and viability of autonomised and nonautonomised autologous fat tissue grafts – experimental model in rabbits

Summary Background The free transplant of fatty tissue has gone through several phases of interest over the last 100 years of medical history, having undergone cycles of use and disuse. In the present study we aimed to create, through a delaying process, an improvement in the integration and lower resorption rates of autologous fat grafts. Similar research has not been found in the literature, and this was the motivating factor for the present study. Methods Twenty-three New Zealand male rabbits were used. The study consisted of two different modalities of autologous fatty tissue transplants [autonomised graft (A) vs nonautonomised grafts (NA)]. In order to characterise the histological differences that could contribute to the different macroscopic aspects in the samples of the autonomised and nonautonomised groups, three anatomic-pathological criteria were considered: steatonecrosis, viable adipocytes, and fibrous proliferation. For this analysis, the ‘point-counting’ technique proposed by Gundersen et al. was used, with a reticulum of 100 points and 50 lines. Results Statistically significant differences were found between the autonomised (A) and nonautonomised (NA) groups in both the macroscopic and microscopic aspects after the 6 month study period ( P < 0.05). Conclusions We conclude that autonomisation of the fatty tissue and its transfer as an autologous implant, in rabbits, is capable of promoting lower rates of resorption and greater integration of the transplanted tissue, characterised by a greater number of viable adipocytes, lower rates of fibrosis and steatonecrosis in comparison with the nonautonomised graft.