Background: Periorbital hyperpigmentation is a common
worldwide problem, which makes a person appear tired, sad,
and aged. A number of factors can cause dark circles around
the eyes including excessive pigmentation, thin and translucent
lower eyelid skin overlying the orbicularis oculi muscle, and
shadowing due to skin laxity and tear trough. Although a
number of treatment options are available, autologous fat
transplantation is an effective method for the treatment of
lower lid dark circles, but irregularities caused by leaving
visible lumps of the fat can occur. Mechanical emulsification
of harvested fat achieves much more finer fat particles than
micro-fat called nano-fat which acts primarily by the plenty
the active transplanted stem cells the purpose of this study is
to evaluate the effectiveness of the nanofat grafting technique
in correcting infraorbital dark circles.
Pateints and Methods: Nanofat grafting was performed
in 10 female patients for dark lower eyelids. The grafts were
injected into intra-dermal and sub-dermal layers using sharp
27G needle and were harvested from different sites according
to the ease of accessibility and to improve the patient's body
contours. The mean follow-up period was 4.6 months, ranging
from 2 to 8 months. All patients were clinically evaluated
using standardized serial digital photographs by two plastic
surgeons, who were blinded to the type of procedure performed
at each of the follow-up visits.
Results: In this study, there was significant improvement
of the peri-ocular dark halos in 5 cases (50%), moderate
improvement was encountered in 2 cases (20%), 2 cases (20%)
showed mild improvement and no improvement in one case
(10%). As regards patient satisfaction, 8 cases (80%) were
satisfied with the final result, while 2 patients (20%) were
not satisfied. Post-operative edema and ecchymosis were
minimal in 5 cases (50%) and mild in 5 cases (50%). No cases
were presented with either post injection infection or lumps
and contour irregularities during the follow-up period.
Conclusion: In conclusion, nano fat injections for the
treatment of infra orbital dark circles is a simple, cost effective
procedure. In addition, nanofat grafting technique provided
a significant improvement in skin quality. Our results suggest
that the stem cell activity of the nanofat grafting technique
has great potential as a treatment modality for dark circles as
well as for skin rejuvenation in general.