Fat Grafting in the Management of War Injuries

The healing potential of fat grafting was empirically noted by the surgeons who were confronted with the dramatic facial disfigurements resulting from World War 1. Fat was transplanted into the wounds either en bloc or in parcels to promote the healing capacity or to correct the uneven, depressed scars from gunshot wounds, enabling the poor soldiers to step back to society and families in a shorter period of time. The idea of transplanting fat into the wound of the facially disfigured started with Hippolyte Morestin (1869–1919), surgeon in chief at Val-de Grace Military Hospital in Paris and was widely adopted by HD Gillies (1882–1960), Erich Lexer (1867–1937), Gustavo Sanvenero Rosselli (1897–1974), and others, achieving amazing results. Successful treatment of facially injured individuals showed the importance of plastic surgical procedures, the social role of the discipline, basis for obtaining the official recognition as surgical specialty. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Riccardo F. Mazzola, MD, University of Milan, via Marchiondi 7, 20122 Milan, Italy; E-mail: riccardo.mazzola@fastwebnet.it Received 17 September, 2018 Accepted 2 October, 2018 The authors report no conflicts of interest. © 2019 by Mutaz B. Habal, MD.

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