Summary
The buccal adipose body (BAB) is a well-defined multilobulated adipose component, located bilaterally in the facial region, closely related to nervous and vascular structures. BAB removal is a widely studied procedure in the field of maxillofacial surgery, used mainly to cover defects. Its influence on facial aesthetics has started to popularize the removal of the BAB buccal extension to obtain a more stylized face, an intervention widely known as minimally invasive and without complications. The objective of this study was to collect and evaluate studies that report and evaluate complications associated with the removal of BAB for cosmetic reasons. The evidence was reviewed in the Medline databases via PubMed, Epistemonikos, Scopus, and Google Scholar, using predefined terms, selecting primary studies from case reports. 7 articles with a total of 10 patients were included; Of these, eight patients underwent this procedure in Brazil, one in the United States, and one in Chile. The distribution of the population was 3:7 between men and women with an average age of 35 years and a range between 23 to 49 years. In relation to the reported complications, 100 % of the patients presented facial asymmetry, 80 % presented facial edema, 30 % manifested sialocele, trismus 20 %, 40 % presented hematoma, 20 % compromised general state, 20 % presented dysphagia, in the cases of hypoesthesia, paresthesia, abscess, seroma, facial paralysis, odynophagia, fever were expressed in 10 % of the studied population. All the studies described a surgical reintervention after cosmetic removal of the bichat adipose body. The scarce literature and its low quality do not allow estimating the real percentage of possible complications, nor is it possible to determine their long-term results since there is no evidence of appropriate follow-up for these patients.
KEY WORDS: complications, facial aesthetics, buccal adipose body, bichat adipose body, bichectomy, lipectomy, narrative review.
How to cite this article
SMITH, R.; FIGUEROA, L.; SECCHI, A.; ALLENDE, R. & VILLALOBOS, F. Complications associated with aesthetic removal of the buccal adipose body (Bichat’s fat-pad) – Narrative Review. Int. J. Odontostomat., 17(2):130-135, 2023.
