Fat obtained from plastic surgery procedures—stem cells derived from adipose tissue and their potential in technological innovation: a narrative literature review and perspective on dissociative methods

BACKGROUND: Throughout its illustrious history, plastic surgery has searched for novel regenerative therapies and procedures. Recently, interest has emerged in using adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ASCs) in an ethical, easy, and reproducible manner. ASCs are generally not administered alone but as a constituent of the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) in clinical practice. Herein, we searched for innovative fat collection and ASC isolation technologies and applications and evaluated each study’s relevance to plastic surgery. METHODS: A narrative literature review was carried out using the MEDLINE/PubMed databases. Studies published from January 1993 to August 2020 and written in English, Portuguese, or Spanish were considered. RESULTS: The selection process yielded 33 articles for subsequent review, involving exploratory, selective, and interpretive reading, material choice, and text analysis. Twenty-three articles employed enzymatic dissociation methods to isolate ASCs, and 25 employed liposuction as the plastic surgery technique. Moreover, articles describing new devices (n = 2), techniques (n = 4), computational models (n = 1), tissue scaffolds (n = 21), and therapies and/or treatments (n = 5) were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Given the importance of fat tissue for plastic surgery purposes, innovative ASC isolation and liposuction technologies could change how the surgeon conducts surgeries and improve surgical outcomes. Furthermore, many articles investigating tissue scaffolds demonstrate the importance of this area of research and development in plastic surgery and regenerative medicine. Continued efforts in the identified research areas will eventually bring in vivo human plastic surgery applications and regenerative medicine into the operating room. Level of evidence: Not gradable.