Carbon Dioxide–Assisted Pneumodissection in Fat Grafting

Abstract

Fat grafting has become a popular procedure due to its wide range of clinical applications. Several fat grafting techniques have been described to increase the survival rate of the grafted fat. This article presents carbon dioxide (CO2) pneumodissection to improve the biological microenvironment of the recipient site. A total of 40 patients were treated with CO2 pneumodissection for aesthetic and reconstructive indications. The known effects of carboxitherapy such as vasodilation, enhanced Bohr effect, and neoangiogenesis are applied to facilitate the grafting procedure and in the search for higher rate of graft uptake. Tissue pneumodissection has demonstrated reduced pain due to the fat injection process, and reduces the sedation requirements and local anesthesia infiltration requirements.