Andrew Technologies LLC, manufacturer of the autologous fat transfer device HydraSolve, announces the publication of a clinical study, as well as the availability of clinical data comparing HydraSolve to to suction-assisted liposuction (SAL).

The clinical study, titled “Fat Grafting with Tissue Liquefaction Technology (TLT) as an Adjunct to Breast Reconstruction,” will appear in the December issue of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery and is currently available online, according to the Tustin, Calif-based company in a media release.

In the study, researchers from Washington University in St. Louis reviewed the charts of 136 consecutive patients who underwent TLT subsequently used in 237 breast reconstructions, evaluating donor and recipient site complications. The overall complication rate at the recipient site was 28.7%. However, the clinically evident rate of fat necrosis was only 6.3% per treated breast. Bruising (ecchymosis) was the primary donor site complication, with 71.1% experiencing minimal bruising and widespread bruising occurring in only 10.4% of patients, the release explains.

Dr Marissa Tenenbaum, one of the study’s principal investigators, concludes in the study that TLT with HydraSolve is very different from other fat harvesting modalities.

“Although donor and recipient site complications are similar to other methods used to harvest adipocytes for fat transfer, the quality of the harvested fat and the procedure’s efficiency make HydraSolve a sound option,” she notes in the release.

The study, “A Multicenter, Prospective, Randomized, Single-Blinded, Controlled Clinical Trial of HydraSolve vs. Suction-Assisted Liposuction,” compares HydraSolve to SAL and will be submitted for publication later this year.

As part of the study, the release explains, 31 patients were treated by five plastic surgeons. The investigators found that after the procedure, the sites treated with HydraSolve had reduced bruising, swelling, and treatment site tenderness compared to the sites treated with SAL. HydraSolve’s fat extraction rate was 40.4% more efficient than SAL, and surgeons’ cannula stroke rate was 65% lower with HydraSolve. Surgeons’ satisfaction rating for HydraSolve was higher than SAL, and they found it required less exertion.

“We were encouraged to find such a clear advantage to the tissue liquefaction approach from both the patients’ and surgeons’ perspectives,” says study author Dr Bill G. Kortesis of Hunstad Kortesis in Huntersville, NC, in the release. “Recovery is so important to our patients’ well-being and their satisfaction with surgery, so it is exciting to see the potential for a more comfortable experience.”

For more information, visit Andrew Technologies LLC or visit its booth, #1531, at the upcoming Plastic Surgery The Meeting, September 23-27 in Los Angeles.

[Source(s): Andrew Technologies LLC, Business Wire]