The Impact of Lidocaine on Adipose-Derived Stem Cells in Human Adipose Tissue Harvested by Liposuction and Used for Lipotransfer

The local anesthetic lidocaine, which has been used extensively during liposuction, has been reported to have cytotoxic effects and therefore would be unsuitable for use in autologous lipotransfer. We evaluated the effect of lidocaine on the distribution, number, and viability of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs), preadipocytes, mature adipocytes, and leukocytes in the fatty and fluid portion of the lipoaspirate using antibody staining and flow cytometry analyses. Adipose tissue was harvested from 11 female patients who underwent liposuction. Abdominal subcutaneous fat tissue was infiltrated with tumescent local anesthesia, containing lidocaine on the left and lacking lidocaine on the right side of the abdomen, and harvested subsequently. Lidocaine had no influence on the relative distribution, cell number, or viability of ASCs, preadipocytes, mature adipocytes, or leukocytes in the stromal-vascular fraction. Assessing the fatty and fluid portions of the lipoaspirate, the fatty portions contained significantly more ASCs ( < 0.05), stem cells expressing the preadipocyte marker Pref-1 ( < 0.01 w/lidocaine, < 0.05 w/o lidocaine), and mature adipocytes ( < 0.05 w/lidocaine, < 0.01 w/o lidocaine) than the fluid portions. Only the fatty portion should be used for transplantation. This study found no evidence that would contraindicate the use of lidocaine in lipotransfer. Limitations of the study include the small sample size and the inclusion of only female patients.