Research & Media
Research, Recognition & Media
A documented record of Dr. Khalid Mutlaq Almutairi's published research, his patent, his participation in clinical trials, and independent press coverage of his work. Every entry links to its original public record.
The surgical cases described below were performed within institutional practice at King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre, Jeddah, and the University of Pittsburgh. They are presented as professional background only — not as services offered by the clinic, and not as a promise of any outcome. Suitability, limits and risks for any procedure are discussed at consultation.
Peer-reviewed publications
Selected work published in peer-reviewed journals and indexed in PubMed, the U.S. National Institutes of Health database:
Body Contouring
Invited Continuing Medical Education review for the specialty's principal journal — first author.
A Single-Blind Study Evaluating the Efficacy of Gold Nanoparticle Photothermal-Assisted Liposuction in an Ex Vivo Human Tissue Model
Clinical evaluation of the NanoLipo technique.
Gold Nanoparticle-assisted Selective Photothermolysis of Adipose Tissue (NanoLipo)
The original description of the patented technique.
Dorsolateral musculocutaneous perforators of the posterior intercostal artery: an anatomical study
Perforator anatomy underpinning flap design in reconstruction.
Three-dimensional angiography of the submental artery perforator flap
Three-dimensional analysis of perforators of the posterior leg
The anatomic basis of perforator flaps
Invited review issue on perforator flaps. (PubMed indexes the surname as “Almutari”.)
Preferences of different breast reduction techniques: survey of board-certified plastic surgeons
US Patent — NanoLipo
Dr. Khalid Mutlaq Almutairi is a named co-inventor on US Patent 9,333,259, “Selective fat removal using NIR light and nanoparticles,” granted on 10 May 2016 and assigned to the University of California San Diego and eLux Medical.
The technique — known as NanoLipo — injects gold nanoparticles into fatty tissue and then applies near-infrared light; the particles heat and liquefy the fat so that it can be aspirated.
Department of Defense–funded clinical research — University of Pittsburgh
In the Department of Plastic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh (UPMC), Dr. Khalid Mutlaq Almutairi served as a sub-investigator on four clinical trials sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense, under principal investigator Prof. J. Peter Rubin.
The studies addressed reconstruction for battle-injured patients: enriched fat grafting to reduce pain at amputation sites so that a prosthesis can be worn, fat grafting for craniofacial and facial combat trauma, and repair of severe musculotendinous tissue loss using biologic scaffolds.
All four trial records are published on ClinicalTrials.gov, the registry maintained by the U.S. National Institutes of Health:
- NCT01645722 — Enriched Autologous Fat Grafting for Treating Pain at Amputation Sites (AMP-5)
- NCT01633892 — Concentrated Autologous Adipose Stromal Cells in Fat Grafts for Craniofacial Trauma (ARM5)
- NCT01564524 — Structural Fat Grafting for Craniofacial Trauma: Concentrating Endogenous Stromal Cells
- NCT01292876 — Musculotendinous Tissue Unit Repair and Reinforcement (MTURR) using biologic scaffolds
Academic and leadership appointments
- Program Director, Plastic Surgery Training Program — King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre, Jeddah (2022 – present)
- Section Head, Plastic Surgery — King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre, Jeddah (2019 – 2022)
- Chair, Wound Healing and Pressure Ulcer Committee — King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre (2024 – present)
- Assistant Professor of Surgery, Michigan State University, and Attending Plastic Surgeon, Sparrow Hospital (2015 – 2017)
- Clinical Instructor, University of Nevada School of Medicine, and Attending Plastic Surgeon, UMC Hospital, Las Vegas (2013 – 2014)
- Attending Plastic Surgeon, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (2012 – 2013)
- Chief Resident in Plastic Surgery, Dalhousie University, Canada (2010 – 2011)
Academic contributions and peer review
He has reviewed submitted manuscripts for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and the Aesthetic Surgery Journal — the peer-review process journals rely on to assess other researchers' work before publication.
He is a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) and the Canadian Society of Plastic Surgeons.
He has contributed chapters to specialist reference texts:
- “Revision Mastopexy” — in Problems in Breast Surgery: A Repair Manual (eds. Jack Fisher and Neal Handel; Quality Medical Publishing, 2013)
- “Breast Reshaping after Massive Weight Loss: Total Parenchymal Reshaping and Dermal Suspension” — in Body Contouring After Massive Weight Loss (ed. Al Aly)
- “Adipocyte and Stem Cell Grafting: Impact on Cancer Detection” — in Autologous Fat Transfer: Art, Science and Clinical Practice (ed. Melvin Shiffman, 2012)
- Co-author, Dalhousie Surgical Flap Manual (2010)
Sculpting Confidence: The Inspirational Journey of a Saudi Plastic Surgeon
An English-language profile covering Dr. Khalid Mutlaq Almutairi's work as a consultant plastic surgeon at King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre, his focus on microsurgical reconstruction for trauma patients, and his approach to patient-centred care.
The profile also covers Nanolipo, his US-patented technique.
The 18-hour operation: reconstructing the hand of a serviceman injured by a landmine
A plastic surgery team at King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre in Jeddah, supervised by Dr. Khalid Mutlaq Almutairi, reconstructed the thumb, index and middle fingers of a serviceman injured by a landmine — an operation that ran for eighteen continuous hours.
Within that reconstruction, a second-toe transfer was used to restore the thumb. This was the unique element of the case: Sabq reported it as the first of its kind in the Middle East and the GCC. Such microsurgical anastomoses are performed on vessels no more than one millimetre across and nerves under half a millimetre.
A complex 10-hour operation removes a facial cancer
The Saudi Press Agency reported that a multidisciplinary team at King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre in Jeddah performed a ten-hour operation to remove a facial cancer from a patient in his fifties.
After resection of the tumour together with the affected area of the face, cheek and temporal bone, the defect was reconstructed with a flap taken from the thigh and microsurgical anastomosis of the blood vessels — led by Dr. Khalid Mutlaq Almutairi, Consultant Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon.
Facial cancer removed in a complex 10-hour operation in Jeddah
Additional coverage of the same case, confirming the three surgical stages and Dr. Almutairi's role in the reconstruction.
Television interviews
MBC Television interviewed Dr. Khalid Mutlaq Almutairi about the NanoLipo technique and its applications. (The broadcast is not available online.)
He also appeared on Saat Shabab (ساعة شباب) on Rotana Khalijia on 5 November 2023 to discuss plastic surgery.
Development work — artificial intelligence in plastic surgery
A clip showing development work on applying artificial intelligence in plastic surgery.
Surgical case footage
Recordings of free flap and microsurgical reconstruction performed by Dr. Khalid Mutlaq Almutairi, published on his own channel.
Please note: these clips contain footage from inside the operating theatre. The links open away from this site; nothing is played on the page.