Application Of Follicular Unit Transplantation In Repairing Hair Loss

Objective: Hair loss is a common sign in plastic surgery. The traditional treatment method is not perfect, especially in survival of hair and appearance after operation and scar of scalp and so on. Hair transplantation is advanced rapidly in 1959 when Professor Orentreich found the dominant hair donor site, but there were still some flaws. Until 1995, Pro. Limmer developed a concept of Follicular Unit after he studied the distribution of hair in scalp. Our objective is to explore the methods and effects of application of Follicular Unit transplantation in repairing hair loss.Methods: From 2005 to 2007, 11 cases with different kinds of hair loss were repaired by follicular unit transplantation. During the operation, we cut the dominant donor site of occipital scalp and converted into follicular unit grafts containing 1 to 4 hairs with tumescence anesthetic. And then, all the follicular units grafts prepared for transplantation were stored into 4℃chilled saline solution; After tumescence anesthetic or field nerve block, we began to transplant using 18 to 21 gauge needles and micro-forceps by stick-and-place technique in different angles and orientations. Last, we protect the recipient site with pressure bandage.Results: The hair survival rate is over 90% in 11 cases which were followed up 6 months to 1 year after operation. The appearance of recipient site is nearly the same to natural and donor site scar is not notable. The 90% patients were satisfied with the result of operation. Some patients feel uneasy for the quickly hair growth especially in the site of eyebrow, eyelash, axillary hairs and pubic hairs, which they had to deal with regularly.Conclusion: Hair survival rate is greatly high by follicular unite graft transplantation in hair loss and the appearance after operation is close to thenatural. Follicular unit transplantation is a superior method contrast to traditional methods in hair loss repairing.