New Donor Excision Design for Better Hair Alignment in Hair Restoration Surgery
Issued Date
2022-02-01
Resource Type
ISSN
0364216X
eISSN
14325241
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85111511057
Pubmed ID
34331092
Journal Title
Aesthetic Plastic Surgery
Volume
46
Issue
1
Start Page
220
End Page
228
Rights Holder(s)
SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Vol.46 No.1 (2022) , 220-228
Suggested Citation
Lekhavat C. New Donor Excision Design for Better Hair Alignment in Hair Restoration Surgery. Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Vol.46 No.1 (2022) , 220-228. 228. doi:10.1007/s00266-021-02469-z Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/86187
Title
New Donor Excision Design for Better Hair Alignment in Hair Restoration Surgery
Author(s)
Author's Affiliation
Other Contributor(s)
Abstract
Background: The linear scar and misalignment of hair follicles are disadvantages of the follicular unit transplantation (FUT) or strip technique. The most common misalignment is at the end of the strip. Although most surgeons try to match hair direction to achieve optimal hair alignment, their attempts are often unsuccessful. Objectives: We aimed to assess strip designs to improve hair alignment during hair transplantation. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of 157 patients who underwent hair transplantation with either the commonly used elliptical incision or our novel triangular flag-shaped designed incision on the donor strip tip. Two blind evaluators assessed the outcome of hair alignment using a 5-point visual analog scale. Results: In total, 303 wounds on 157 patients were assessed. Overall, our triangular flag-shaped design (TFD) achieved better hair alignment than the common elliptical design (CED) (p=0.01). Patients with hair direction straight on the upper wound edge and hair direction inward on the lower wound edge showed improved outcomes with TFD, whereas patients with hair direction inward on both upper and lower wound edges showed better outcomes with CED. Conclusions: The TFD tip of donor strips achieved proper hair alignment for most hair transplant patients. Level of Evidence IV: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authorswww.springer.com/00266.