Comparison of clinical effects between autologous fat and hyaluronic acid in filling nasolabial grooves

Objective To compare the efficacy between autologous fat and hyaluronic acid in filling nasolabial grooves. Methods Sixty patients who wanted improvement of nasolabial grooves were involved in the study. They were randomly and equally classified into two groups: autologous fat injection group and hyaluronic acid injection group. Photographs were taken before, half a year, and one year after injection. The nasolabial grooves were also graded before, half a year, and one year after injection. The grade improvement was obtained after postoperative grade minus preoperative grade. If the grade improvement was more than 1 grade, the treatment was regarded as effective to evaluate the outcome between the two methods. Results The results of the two groups were tested by SPSS 13.0 software. The effects of the two methods were not significantly different after half a year of filling (P>0.05). The difference was significant one year after filling (P<0.05). In autologous fat injection, the patients had a long and magnificant swelling and redness around the nasolabial grooves; on the contrary, the patients who underwent hyaluronic acid had slight and short-time local reaction like swelling and redness. No other serious complications were found in both the groups. Conclusions The effects of the autologous fat and the hyaluronic acid are equal after half a year of filling. The autologous fat has a longer effect in one year. Both methods are safe and effective. Surgeons can select the method accordingly. Key words: Fat granule, autologous; Hyaluronic acid; Nasolabial groove; Filling