Abstract
Background: Surgical blepharoplasty has traditionally been used to rejuvenate the periorbita by removing excess tissue. While this often enhances appearance, it does not address the volume loss associated with aging. Hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers have been used to address volume loss; however, issues such as the Tyndall effect, chronic edema, and the cost of repeated injections make them less than ideal. Advances in contemporary surgery have made autologous fat a natural alternative for filling volume loss in the periorbita. Fat grafting, whether using macrofat, microfat, or nanofat, can provide excellent results, but a separate procedure is required to harvest the fat from the patient. Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyze and describe complications and patient satisfaction by comparing blepharoplasty alone with blepharoplasty combined with lipofilling. Methods: A retrospective review of a single surgeon's private practice cases was performed on 45 consecutive patients who underwent surgical blepharoplasty alone and 64 patients who had surgical blepharoplasty combined with lipofilling from 2002 to 2021. Complications, pain scores, and patient satisfaction reports were assessed. Results: Upon comparing the blepharoplasty alone group to the blepharoplasty with lipofilling group, the 109 patients did not differ significantly in age. Both groups were predominantly female. There were no major complications, only minor ones, and though the blepharoplasty alone group had a higher complication rate, this was not statistically significant. Lipofilling added approximately 30 minutes to the 60-minute blepharoplasty procedure, but pain scores were higher in the combination group. However, pain dissipated quickly and, while statistically significant, was not clinically significant. Patient satisfaction with the additional lipofilling was high, which resulted in lipofilling being added to all blepharoplasty procedures. Conclusions: Traditional surgical blepharoplasty can be combined with fat grafting techniques to address tissue loss and descent. Lipofilling integrated with blepharoplasty is a safe procedure. It is well tolerated by patients and provides high satisfaction with good aesthetic outcomes. The use of autologous fat offers an economical and effective advantage for patients.