Plast Reconstr Surg Glob OpenPlast Reconstr Surg Glob OpenGOXPlastic and Reconstructive Surgery Global Open2169-7574Wolters Kluwer Health56363110003410.1097/01.GOX.0000526191.58121.25PSTM 2017 Abstract SupplementEditorial LetterPostersAbstract: Use of Pedicled Buccal Fat Pad for Malar and Midface AugmentationLeeTae SungMDParkSanghoonMD, PhDID Hospital, Seoul920170210201759 SupplPSTM 2017 Abstract Supplement21-22Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of The American Society of Plastic Surgeons. All rights reserved.2017This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND), where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal.OPEN-ACCESSTRUE

The buccal fat pad is an anatomical structure that is enveloped within a thin fascia, and lies in the masticatory space between the buccinator and masseter muscle. While, the mean volume of the buccal fat pat is approximately 10 ml, the main physiological function of the buccal fat pad is to fill the masticatory space and act as a cushion for the masticatory muscles. There have been studies on the use of the pedicled buccal fat pad for closure of oroantral or oronasal communications secondary to exodontias and for post-surgical oral defects for malignant lesions. In the fields of aesthetic surgery, the major reason for manipulating the buccal fat pad is to extract these fatty tissues in order to reduce prominent cheeks. Using the buccal fat pads to restore soft-tissue volume for volume-deficient areas is limitedly carried out by using the fat pads in a free graft method. Meanwhile, deficient soft-tissue volume in the malar and midface region causes a broad and flat facial appearance and often is related with the aging process which results in an old- or tired-look. By utilizing the buccal fat pads to the adjacent volume-deficient malar regions, a volume restoring and rejuvenating effect can be easily achieved. As the fat pads can be mobilized as a vascularized flap, concerns on volume resorption that is commonly noticed after conventional free fat transfer methods can be avoided. Also, the use of soft-tissue fillers or alloplastic implants can be avoided. Thus, long-term stability can be assured and its procedural simplicity, with very low complication rates and natural-looking results, encourage surgeons to use the pedicled buccal fat pad as a tool for malar and midface augmentation. This procedure can be easily combined with a reduction malarplasty procedure, as patients with laterally prominent zygomatic bones usually have deficient volume in the anterior malar region. While the lateral projections of the zygoma are reduced by reduction malarplasty, anterior malar volume can be restored concomitantly by utilizing the pedicled buccal fat pad through the same intraoral approach. The buccal fat pad is gently delivered atraumatically using non-toothed forceps from the masticatory space by blunt dissection while keeping the fascial envelope intact. The mobilized buccal fat pad then is fixed to the volume-deficient area with resorbable sutures.