Fat transplantation can be used to fill subcutaneous defects ranging in size from major to minor. Today, many patients are interested in ambulatory procedures with minimal downtime. Small-volume fat transplantation can easily be performed under local anesthesia, allowing the patient to return to public life within one or two days. Although the term may mean different things to different surgeons, small-volume fat transplantation might include augmentation of the malar, nasojugal, and nasolabial areas. These minor lipoaugmentation procedures can be repeated monthly or bimonthly, eventually leading to a significant improvement with minimal time dedicated to recovery.

Small-volume fat transplantation can be performed all over the body but is most commonly used for facial atrophy due to trauma and aging or for traumatic fat dents of the thighs resulting from liposuction or accidents. It is also useful for augmentation of aging hands. Since several small-volume procedures are needed to obtain the best results, patients must be forewarned that they will often see minimal improvement after the first procedure. Augmentation of subcutaneous defects also requires many times the volume of augmentation of cutaneous defects. The comparatively dense dermis requires very little filling volume to achieve a visual improvement, compared to subcutaneous tissue, which often seems to act as a black hole, soaking up filling materials. The physician who moves from injecting dermal fillers into using subcutaneous fillers learns this very quickly.

Small-volume fat transplantation can also be used as part of a combination approach.