Surgical complications in hair transplantation: a series of 533 procedures.
BACKGROUND
Surgical complications in hair transplantation can sometimes be a serious matter. Most of the published literature on this issue deals with individual case reports rather than larger series of patients.


OBJECTIVE
The authors analyze complications in 425 consecutive patients undergoing 533 hair transplantations.


METHODS
Patients with androgenetic alopecia (407 men and 17 women), cicatricial alopecia (9 men and 8 women), and malformations (1 man and 3 women) with a mean age of 36.9 years (standard deviation, 10.4 yrs) underwent hair transplantation between 1995 and 2006 and were followed up postoperatively for at least 1 year. Data on surgical complications were retrospectively analyzed.


RESULTS
The overall complication rate in our series was 4.7%, including enlarged scar (1.2%), folliculitis (1.0%), necrosis in the donor area (0.8%), keloids (0.4%), bleeding (0.2%), hiccups (0.2%), infection (0.2%), and pyogenic granuloma (0.2%). The frequency of enlarged scar increased proportionally according to the number of surgical procedures.


CONCLUSIONS
The hair transplantation complication rate in this series was 4.7%. Good communication between patient and surgeon, a complete clinical and laboratory assessment of the patient, accurate surgical technique, specific equipment, a trained surgical team, and careful postoperative attention to the patient are crucial for successful hair transplantation and for decreasing complication rates.).
Salanitri
Sandro
S
Department of Surgery. sandrosalanitri@hotmail.com
Gonçalves
Antonio José
AJ
Helene
Américo
A
Lopes
Flavia Helena Junqueira
FH
D000328:Adult; D000505:Alopecia / Q000601:surgery*; D003357:Cosmetic Techniques / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006197:Hair / Q000637:transplantation*; D018859:Hair Follicle / Q000254:growth & development / Q000637:transplantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000473:pathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting / Q000379:methods; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D016896:Treatment Outcome