Applications

1575 – Autologous fat grafting (AFG) by injection, for defects arising from breast surgery, cancer treatment/prevention or congenital deformity

Find out about the service or technology in this application and the medical condition it addresses. You can also view the application documents, the deadlines for providing consultation input and the outcome of the application when the MSAC process is complete.

  • Status Complete
  • Type New application
  • Pre-PASC consultation -
  • Pre-MSAC consultation -
  • Outcome Supported

Application details

Reason for application

New MBS item.

Service or technology in this application

Fat grafting is currently used for the management of breast cancer patients, but there is no MBS item number, so its use is often coded as “scar-revision”. Autologous fat grafting (AFG) is the harvesting, preparation and re-injection of autologous fat, with or without specialised fat grafting equipment. It includes live fat cells being harvested from a donor site on the patient, prepared in theatre by a variety of methods to separate and purify the fat cells, and injected back into the defective area. It relies on the fat stem cells remaining viable in the transferred site. Fat transfer, or fat grafting, or lipo-filling, or lipo-modelling, allows wider use of prosthetic breast reconstruction and can avoid the need for autologous reconstruction. It can minimise the need for extensive revisional surgery for defects after breast reconstruction.

Type: Therapeutic

Medical condition this application addresses

AFG (proposed service) is used for defects arising from the following medical conditions: breast reconstruction surgery after breast cancer excision and/or mastectomy for cancer or cancer risk reduction; and surgery for developmental breast disorders.

Meetings to consider this application

  • PASC meeting: 11 April 2019
  • ESC meeting: 12 June 2020
  • MSAC meeting: 28 to 29 July 2020