Complications of hair restoration surgery: a retrospective analysis

Hair restoration surgery (HRS) is a very promising and sought after aesthetic procedure with very few complications. Complications may occur in the donor or the recipient area, and it may be due to surgical or idiopathic causes.

The aim was to analyze the complications in male patients who underwent HRS for androgenetic alopecia (AGA).

We conducted a retrospective analysis of male patients who underwent HRS for AGA from December 2010 to August 2014. Data were collected from the registers, telephonic enquiry and electronic mails. All complications during and after surgery, and their subjective feeling about hair growth was recorded.

Seventy-three patients were included in the analysis. A total of 65 patients had undergone follicular unit transplant, 7 patients underwent FUE, and one patient had body hair transplantation. Postoperative edema was found in 42.47% of patients, followed by sterile folliculitis in 23.29% of patients, wide donor scar in 15.07% of patients, bacterial folliculitis and numbness/paresthesia in 10.96% of patients. Other complications such as raised scar, hiccups, pruritus, excessive bleeding were found in isolated cases.

Thorough preoperative evaluation, skillful surgical techniques, good communication and postoperative follow-up go a long way in giving satisfactory outcome with fewer complications in HRS.