title: Surgical complications in hair transplantation: a series of 533 procedures.
abstract: 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.).
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery. sandrosalanitri@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Sandro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Salanitri
authors.forename: Antonio José
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.forename: Américo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Helene
authors.forename: Flavia Helena Junqueira
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Lopes
mesh_terms: 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