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Comparative Efficacy and Safety of Cell-Assisted and Conventional Lipotransfer in Facial Filling: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

  • Review
  • Non-Surgical Aesthetic
  • Published:
Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

We aim to compare the efficacy and safety of cell-assisted lipotransfer (CAL) and conventional lipotransfer (CLT) in facial filling.

Methods

The PubMed and Embase databases were searched for relevant publications until February 2023. All studies evaluating the efficacy and safety of cell-assisted and conventional lipotransfer in facial filling were included. We calculated pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% CIs for continuous outcomes and pooled risk ratio (RR) with 95% CIs for binary outcomes. The Cochrane's Risk of Bias Tool and the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS) were used to evaluate the quality of studies.

Results

A total of 15 studies with 737 patients were included in this analysis. The fat survival rate and patient satisfaction rate were significantly higher in the CAL group compared to the CLT group (SMD: 3.04, 95% CI 2.09–3.99; RR: 1.34, 95% CI 1.08–1.67). However, no significant difference in complication rates (RR: 0.95, 95% CI 0.50–1.81) and a lower secondary operation rate in the CAL group (RR: 0.52, 95% CI 0.03–0.82) were observed. No obvious publication bias was observed in the funnel plot (Egger’s P values = 0.084 and 0.403).

Conclusions

Based on the pooled results, we tentatively conclude that CAL may have superior fat survival rate and satisfaction rate compared to CLT in facial filling, without compromising patient safety. However, the majority of the included studies were observational studies with small sample sizes. Future research should focus on investigating the long-term efficacy and safety of these techniques.

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Data Availability

The original findings detailed in this study can be found within the article. For additional inquiries, please contact the corresponding authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China

    Shurui Shen & Ying Shao

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China

    Huasong Huo

  3. Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

    Hang Ren

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Contributions

SS and YS conceived and designed the study. SS, HH and HR were responsible for data collection and analysis, and SS wrote the manuscript. All authors contributed to the article and approved the final submitted version.

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Correspondence to Ying Shao.

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Shen, S., Huo, H., Ren, H. et al. Comparative Efficacy and Safety of Cell-Assisted and Conventional Lipotransfer in Facial Filling: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Aesth Plast Surg 48, 1444–1456 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-023-03650-2

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