Surgery · Graft Retention

Facial Fat Grafting Survival Rate

How much of a graft stays, and why the answer varies

Gangnam, Seoul | Board-certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Jonghwan Choi
Retention explained from published research · KHIDI-registered for international patients

Graft Retention Graft Retention Graft Retention Graft Retention
Retain

Fat graft survival

What percentage of grafted facial fat survives?

The short answer

No single percentage holds for every face. Published studies of fat grafting report widely varying retention, because the share of fat that establishes a blood supply depends on how it was harvested and prepared, how it was placed, which region received it and the patient receiving it. Rewind Plastic Surgery has not published a survival rate for its own grafts, so this page gives no figure and explains the factors behind the variation.

Sources: the published papers listed at the foot of this page, and Rewind's post-operative instructions for fat grafting. A retention figure for grafts carried out at this clinic is not published.

Survival rate is the question most often searched about fat grafting, and the one most often answered with a confident number. A percentage lifted from a study is hard to apply without the region that was grafted, the method used to measure it and the time that had passed. Studies differ on all three: some measure volume with three-dimensional imaging, some rely on photographs, and follow-up ranges from months to years.

What a patient can use is a clear picture of what happens to grafted fat, which conditions tend to help it survive, and how a plan allows for the part that does not. The sections below take those in turn. The operation itself, region by region, is described on the facial fat grafting page.

Surgeon operating under magnifying loupes at Rewind Plastic Surgery
Fig. 01 · How the fat is placed is one of the factors behind retention
Cases

Patient photographs

Fat graft retention photographs: why this page shows none yet

A retention claim is only as good as the photographs behind it, and Rewind has not released fat grafting pairs for publication. None are shown here, and no case from another operation fills the space.

A useful retention photograph has two features that a quick result shot lacks. The second frame is taken long after the swelling has gone, because volume seen in the first weeks is partly fluid. And the time since surgery is printed beside it. When grafting cases are published, those are the details to look for; at a consultation, ask how long after surgery any photograph you are shown was taken.

Individual results may vary. Part of every graft is reabsorbed, and the amount differs between people and between regions. Asymmetry, lumps and oil cysts are possible. A consultation with the doctor is required before any decision.

Factors

Variables in the literature

What affects fat graft retention in the face

The grafting literature keeps returning to the same group of variables. Some sit with the surgeon, some with the patient, and some with the region itself.

factor 01
Handling of the fat
Fat is living tissue from the moment it is drawn out. How it is harvested, processed and kept before placement affects how many cells arrive intact. A long-term study of fat processed by closed-membrane filtration is one example of work that measures retained volume against the processing method.
factor 02
Parcel size and spread
Fat laid down as small parcels spread through several layers sits closer to tissue that can supply it with blood. Large single deposits are linked in complication reviews to fat necrosis and oil cysts, both of which also mean lost volume.
factor 03
The recipient region
Regions differ in blood supply, in how much they move and in how thin the skin over them is. A graft to a mobile area and a graft to a still, well-supplied one are not expected to behave in the same way.
factor 04
The patient
Smoking, weight change after surgery and general health are discussed in the literature as influences on how a graft fares. They are raised at the examination because they are the variables a patient can do something about.
Months

After placement

What happens to grafted facial fat in the months after surgery

The sequence below describes grafted fat as a class of tissue, drawn from the surgical literature. Rewind publishes no timeline of its own beyond the recovery instructions on its post-operative sheet, and no timing here should be read as the clinic's protocol.

01Placed

Fat arrives with no blood supply

Once placed, each parcel depends on the tissue around it for oxygen and nutrients until new vessels grow in. The smaller and better spread the parcels, the more of each one lies close enough to be fed.

02Swelling

Early fullness is partly fluid

For the first weeks the treated regions look fuller than they will stay. Rewind's sheet expects bruising and swelling to ease within one to two weeks, and volume judged during that period overstates what has taken.

03Loss

Some fat is reabsorbed

Parcels that fail to establish a blood supply are broken down and cleared by the body. This is the loss that survival rates try to measure, and published series disagree on how large it is.

04Settling

The retained volume settles over months

The fat that survives becomes part of the surrounding tissue. The literature describes this settling over the months after surgery; the clinic publishes no date at which it regards a graft as stable, so the timing of review is agreed with the surgeon.

05Review

A second pass is judged, never assumed

At review the surgeon compares the region with the plan. If more volume would help, a further session is discussed. Rewind's fee schedule carries a listing with a second session for plans where one is expected from the outset.

Operating theatre at Rewind Plastic Surgery, Apgujeong
Fig. 02 · Harvest and placement take place in the same theatre
Rewind

Why here

How Rewind plans a fat graft around uncertain retention

Retention cannot be fixed in advance, so the plan has to leave room for it. Three habits at the clinic follow from that.

01No figure

Retention is described, never promised

Rewind has not published a survival percentage, and none is offered at consultation as a promise. What you hear instead is which of the factors on this page apply to your face and to the regions being grafted.

02Second session

A further session can be priced in advance

For plans where a second pass is likely, the schedule's listing with a second session sets out the cost before the first operation. Whether that pass is actually needed stays a clinical judgement at review.

03Continuity

The same surgeon judges the result

Dr. Jonghwan Choi, the board-certified plastic surgeon who places the graft, also sees it at every review. Judging retention needs a memory of what was placed and where, and that memory sits with the person who placed it.

Facial assessment at the consultation desk at Rewind Plastic Surgery
Fig. 03 · At review, each region is compared with the original plan
Theatre

In the operating room

Where a fat graft is placed and reviewed at Rewind in Gangnam

Procedure room prepared for surgery at Rewind Plastic Surgery

Fig. 04 · Preparation before a surgical case

Private recovery room with a bed at Rewind Plastic Surgery

Fig. 05 · A private room for rest after surgery

Harvest, preparation and placement happen in one session in the clinic's theatre on the fourth and fifth floors of the Richro Building, Apgujeong. Reviews take place in the same building with the same surgeon. For a retention question that matters: the person comparing the region with the plan is the person who drew the plan.

Graft material: the patient's own fat only
Survival rate for Rewind grafts: not published
Processing method: not published, explained at consultation
Date of stable volume: not published, set at review
Swelling window on the clinic's sheet: one to two weeks
Restrictions on the sheet: at least one month
Further session: a listed option where planned
Placed and reviewed by Dr. Jonghwan Choi
Dr. Jonghwan Choi, board-certified plastic surgeon

Board-certified plastic surgeon

A board-certified plastic surgeon, author of ten peer-reviewed papers and the only operating surgeon at a practice registered with KHIDI for international patients under M-2025-01-08-09288.

Cost

Pricing

Fat grafting prices and the cost of a second session at Rewind

Retention and price meet at one point on the schedule: the listing with a second session built in. The regional listings sit beside it so a patient can see what a further pass would involve.

Fat grafting, one areaA single region, forehead and temple excluded
₩650,000
Fat grafting, forehead and templeThe upper face as one pairing
₩1,510,000
Full-face fat graftingHollowing across the face under one plan
₩1,970,000
Plan with a second session includedFor plans where a further pass is expected; depends on the regions covered
Quoted at consultation

List prices, VAT excluded, anaesthetic fee included. The second-session listing is priced slightly below two separate sessions and depends on the regions in the plan.

Fit

Suitability

Whose fat graft tends to hold up, and who should plan for more loss

Conditions that favour a graft

  • A non-smoker, or someone prepared to stop for the period the surgeon advises
  • A stable body weight, with no large gain or loss planned
  • A clearly hollow region with healthy skin over it
  • Enough donor fat to allow small, well-spread parcels

Reasons to plan more cautiously

  • Very thin skin over the region, where lumps from uneven take show more easily
  • Scarring from earlier surgery or injections in the region
  • An expectation of an exact final volume from the first session
  • Pregnancy, breastfeeding, a clotting disorder or blood-thinning medication, all raised before a date is set
After

Recovery

Protecting grafted fat in the first month

Rewind's instructions for fat grafting read differently once the retention question is in mind. Each of the four protects fat that has not yet found a blood supply.

Weeks one to two
Swelling is not the result
Bruising and swelling ease within one to two weeks. Judging volume in this window leads either to false reassurance or to needless worry.
Daily
No pressure on the graft
Rubbing, massage and strong stimulation of the treated area are avoided, and the skin is moisturised. Pressure disturbs parcels that are still waiting for a supply.
Outdoors
Sunscreen
Sun protection guards against pigment change on the treated skin while it heals.
At least a month
Heat, alcohol and hard exercise wait
Saunas, steam rooms, alcohol and strenuous exercise are avoided for a minimum of one month on the sheet, covering the early weeks in which the graft is establishing itself.

Complications after facial fat grafting include fat necrosis, oil cysts, palpable lumps, asymmetry, over-correction or under-correction, infection, donor-site changes and rare vascular events. Some of these also reduce retained volume. No retention figure can be promised for an individual.

Doctor

Professional

At Rewind, one board-certified plastic surgeon carries every case — from the first consultation to the final follow-up. Because a face is a story, and a story deserves a single author.

Dr. Jonghwan Choi, board-certified plastic surgeonRewind,
Dr. Jonghwan Choi presenting at an academic session
Fig. 06 — Academic presentation

Rewind's Doctor

Dr. Jonghwan Choi Medical Director

One surgeon, from the first
consultation to the last follow-up.

A board-certified plastic surgeon devoted to anti-aging surgery, with the precision and restraint built through years of craniofacial practice.

Board-certified plastic surgeon (Plastic Surgery)
10 peer-reviewed publications
Medical Director, Rewind Plastic Surgery
Korean Society of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeons
Former chief director, Apgujeong Y&T Plastic Surgery
Korean Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery
J Craniofac Surg · JKMS · Arch Craniofac Surg
Korean Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association
Ask

Questions

Fat graft survival: eight questions answered from the literature

What percentage of grafted facial fat survives?
Published studies report widely varying retention, and the share depends on technique, region and patient. Rewind has not published a survival rate for its own grafts. A single figure quoted without its study, region and method of measurement tells you little about your own face.
When does the retained volume stabilise?
Swelling on the clinic's sheet eases within one to two weeks, and the literature describes the surviving fat settling over the months after that. Rewind publishes no stabilisation date; the surgeon judges the region at review and decides then whether more volume would help.
What factors affect fat graft retention?
How the fat is handled during harvest and processing, the size and spread of the parcels placed, the blood supply and movement of the region, and patient factors such as smoking and later weight change. Several are discussed at the examination because you can influence them.
Why does the face look fuller in the first weeks than later?
Early fullness includes swelling as well as graft. As the swelling settles within one to two weeks and some parcels are reabsorbed, the region looks smaller than it did just after surgery. The volume that remains is assessed later, at review.
Does needing a second session mean the first one failed?
Not necessarily. Part of every graft is reabsorbed, and some plans are written expecting a second pass. Rewind lists a plan with a second session built in, priced slightly below two separate sessions, for that situation.
Can I do anything to help more of the fat survive?
Follow the post-operative sheet: keep pressure and massage off the treated area, protect it from the sun, and avoid alcohol, saunas, steam rooms and strenuous exercise for at least a month. Tell the surgeon if you smoke, since smoking is discussed as a factor in graft survival.
What happens to fat that does not survive?
Most of it is broken down and cleared by the body. Some can instead form an oil cyst or an area of fat necrosis, which may be felt as a lump. The complication literature describes both, and any lump is examined at review.
Will the fat that survives change over the years?
The fat that takes becomes part of the tissue and tends to follow changes in body weight, so a large gain or loss after surgery can alter the region. The face also keeps ageing around the graft. Rewind publishes no figure for how long a graft lasts.
Voices

Google Reviews

What our patients say.

G 5.0 ★★★★★ 51 Google reviews · Rewind Plastic Surgery, Apgujeong — live-synced from Google Business Profile
★★★★★

Came to REWIND to get my facial treatment and i'm absolutely obsessed about it💞 the doctor is so kind and is an expert! Everyone must visit!

YunHee Hong2 weeks ago
★★★★★

There are just way too many cosmetic clinics in Korea and I'm so happy I found Rewind Clinic in Gangnam. Dr. Choi was so kind and patient while explaining the different face-lifting options, from threads to mini-lifts to deep-plane lifts…

J. S.5 months ago
★★★★★

I found Rewind clinic through a Korean chat forum and many local clients highly recommended it. The clinic is brand new, featuring large, clean rooms and many private waiting areas so it doesn't give off that "factory" clinic vibe. All the…

J. Siou5 months ago
★★★★★

Really nice environment. Doctor is easy to communicate and understands my visions. Waited two weeks to make a review and I confirm the results exceeded my expectations and I am super happy with it. Can't wait to come back!! :))

Kristie Chu5 months ago
★★★★★

I received a thread lift at Rewind Plastic Surgery. The clinic was clean and the atmosphere was comfortable. The consultation was thorough, and I felt confident because they kindly explained everything tailored to my facial condition. They…

한주연2 weeks ago · Translated by Google
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Scientific evidence

Studies on fat graft retention, preparation and complications

Four references are listed: a long-term study measuring the volume retained after fat grafting, a review separating microfat from nanofat, a review of complications after facial fat grafting, and an objective measurement study after grafting to the temple and forehead. They describe grafting in general. None gives a retention figure for patients treated at Rewind.