New Subdermal Technique for the Brazilian Buttlift
Dr. Kenneth Hughes, Los Angeles Plastic Surgeon, created a new, safer technique for fat injection in 2015 that has resulted in over thousands of Brazilian buttlifts performed without a single death or complication due to fat emboli.
Some have suggested sedation rather than general anesthesia as a method to reduce risk. However, the dilation occurring during general anesthesia is not significant, when understanding that some of these veins are much larger than 4 mm without dilation. Therefore, the type of anesthesia is far less important than avoiding these larger vessels. Some have advised injecting fluid with epinephrine to help constrict vessels, but the arteries typically are not vessels affected by fat emboli. The veins are the ones affected, and these larger veins are deeper to the areas of injection.
Some have suggested that the surgeon can simply avoid the area of the vascular pedicle and the sciatic nerve. These are both good recommendations, but veins beyond the pedicles are sufficiently large to allow emboli introduction from a purely biomechanical standpoint.
Truly, the one overarching theme in this is to use a cannula that is much larger than the vessels to be avoided. In addition, injection should occur into the areas where the vessels are the smallest possible in diameter. This only occurs at the level directly under the skin. The muscle fascia should not be penetrated or entered to allow for the safest Brazilian buttlift or BBL possible.
Does This Technique Prevent Fat Emboli?
At present, Dr. Kenneth Hughes of Hughes Plastic Surgery has performed over 2500 BBLs over the past 8 years with the method described. He has not encountered a fatal or nonfatal fat embolus. In other words, he has experienced no deaths in 8 years with this new technique, while hundreds of other deaths have been reported during that time. Science is always advancing, but Dr. Kenneth Hughes has always been ahead of the curve.
To contact Kenneth Hughes’s office, please visit
https://www.hughesplasticsurgery.com/contact-los-angeles-plastic-surgeon/