Hair Transplant Surgery and the Important Role of Technicians During Graft Placement

This question, from a member of the Hair Restoration Discussion Forum, was answered by Jotronic – a senior member and consultant to Coalition physicians Dr. Victor Hasson and Dr. Jerry Wong:

I have read online that hair transplant surgeons often leave the placing of grafts to the technicians, perhaps checking every fifteen minutes or so. I guess my question is what is the most important part of the procedure? Is it taking the grafts in the first place, the splitting of grafts or indeed the placement?

Seeing as you are paying thousands of dollars, one would expect the doctor to perform all of the procedure from start to finish or at least 90%. As I say, I’ve read lots of posts where the doctors in question (some top class Coalition) delegate parts of the procedure out to others. I feel lucky that my doctor did all of my procedure from start to finish and only left for ten minutes or so. I would feel terribly let down if my hair restoration physician seemed to be away more than he was present during the procedure considering the large amount of cash handed over.

Graft placement is very important. But, when it comes to high quality hair restoration with a decent number of grafts, no single doctor should do the whole procedure. If you’re talking about a few hundred grafts then sure, I can see this being possible. But, when you’re dealing with a few thousand or more grafts then it just does not make sense. The procedure would take far too long and the grafts would stand a larger chance of dying due to desiccation (drying). Fatigue is another factor to consider.

The better known hair restoration clinics use technicians because it is the most efficient manner in which most hair transplants can be performed. Usually there are two technicians working in tandem at any given time and they rotate in and out to keep the fatigue factor down. In some hair loss clinics, when the doctor makes the incisions, they are made with custom cut flat blades (aka The Lateral Slit Technique) and these incisions dictate the angle and direction of how the grafts are placed. Performed properly, the grafts cannot be placed in any other direction or angle.

When it comes to modern follicular unit hair transplantation, better clinics will utilize a team approach to getting the job done. It’s the same thing as playing a football game. There are multiple team members that have their own specialty and when working together they can get more done.

Jotronic
Patient Educator – Hasson & Wong

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David (TakingThePlunge)
Editorial Assistant and Forum Co-Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q & A Blog.
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