The Battle begins: Is strip surgery really necessary?

To measure the effects of previous Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) procedure.

The study was conducted in a private hair transplant clinic after obtaining informed consent. Only those patients were included who had a previous strip harvest surgery (FUT) and opted for Follicular Unit Excision/Extraction (FUE) procedure. In all the patients, the donor hairs were trimmed to about 1-2 mm length. The width of the scar, the hair density above and below the scar, and hair angles above and below the scar were measured. All the patients underwent FUE procedure using 0.9 mm serrated punch. Twenty attempts were made above and below the scar (about 0.5 cm), and the total number of hair and transections was measured. All the data were analyzed statistically.

Ten patients were included. The average width of the scar was 2.47 mm. The mean hair density was found to be 155.4 hairs per cm² above the scar and 130.8 per cm² below the scar. The mean hair angle was found to be 28.21 degrees above the scar and 39.19 degrees below the scar in midline occipital above the scar (P < .05). The average hair count was found to be 49.8 hairs above the scar and 47.2 hairs above the scar (P < .05). The transection of hair was doubled below the scar (P < .05) CONCLUSION: The Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) procedure does leave some impacts on the donor area other than the scar only. The change in angle results in higher transection of hair above the scar.