Unfortunately, the terminology used to describe these approaches is confusing since the same or similar terms may be used loosely to denote very different procedures.

Tissue grafting has a long history in plastic surgery. For instance, a skin graft is a relatively intact piece of skin removed from one part of the body and surgically attached to another part of the body.

Tissue "grafting" (whether involving skin, bone, mucous membrane, etc.) involves removing a fairly structurally-intact piece of tissue and trasferring it to a new site with a minimum amount of architectural disruption.

• Fat Grafting: The transfer of relatively intact structural units of fat tissue from one body area to another.

While unattached to their original blood supply, such grafts retain much of their normal architecture (cellular relationships, blood vessels, nerves, surrounding connective tissue, etc).

True fat grafts are not unlike skin grafts, where rapid and permanent incorporation into the recipient site is the usual outcome.

• Fat Injection: The transfer of fat cells and/or disrupted fat globules obtained using liposuction by withdrawal into a syringe and injection through a cannula (a sort of blunt needle).

Fat injection shares more in common with a blood transfusion than a skin graft.

• Structual Fat Grafting: Another term for "fat injection"

• Autologous Fat Transplantation: A more technical but accurate way of saying "fat injection"

• Microlipoinjection: Another term for "fat injection"

• Lid to Lid Fat Transfer: Movement of orbital fat out of one eyelid and into another

• Fat Repositioning: The transfer of a pedicle (or flap) of intact fat still attached to its original blood supply.