The General Registry of Autologous Fat Transfer: Concept, Design, and Analysis of Fat Grafting Complications

Background: The American Society of Plastic Surgeons and The Plastic Surgery Foundation launched GRAFT, the General Registry of Autologous Fat Transfer, in October of 2015. This web-accessible registry addresses the need for prospective and systematic data collection, to determine the rates of unfavorable outcomes (complications) of fat grafting. Understanding and avoiding the factors that lead to complications can help establish safe practices for fat grafting. Methods: Data collected between October of 2015 and November of 2019 were summarized for age, sex, indications, processing techniques, and fat graft volume. Rates of complications for fat grafting to various anatomical areas were calculated. Results: The General Registry of Autologous Fat Transfer collected data on 7052 fat grafting procedures from 247 plastic surgery practices. The mean age of the patients in the registry was 51 years (range, 1 to 89 years), 94 percent were female, and 64 percent of the procedures were for aesthetic indications. Whereas the overall complication rate was low (5.01 percent), the complication rates for fat grafting to the breast and buttocks (7.29 percent and 4.19 percent, respectively) were higher than those for face and other areas (1.94 percent and 2.86 percent, respectively). Oil cysts (2.68 percent) and infections (1.64 percent) were the most common complications of breast fat grafting, whereas seroma (1.84 percent) and palpable mass (1.33 percent) were most common for fat grafting to buttocks. Palpable mass (0.54 percent) and infections (0.54 percent) were most common for fat grafting to face. Conclusions: The General Registry of Autologous Fat Transfer provides a valuable tool for prospective tracking of fat grafting techniques and complications. Data collected in the registry show low rates of complications for all recipient areas treated with fat grafting.