Wed 28 Jul 2010
Pros and Cons of A Hair Transplant Scar Revision Procedure
Category: Common Questions , Complications , Donor Issues , FUT (Follicular Unit Transplant) , General Hair Loss Topics , Hair Transplant Repair , Hair Transplant Surgery , Other Hair SurgeriesThis question comes from a member of the Hair Restoration Social Community and Discussion Forums:
A past follicular unit transplantation procedure left me with a less than desirable hair transplant scar. I’m now investigating a scar revision procedure and I’m wondering the potential pitfalls and risks of this operation?
Although revising a follicular unit transplantation (FUT) scar is usually considered less invasive than a hair transplant procedure, there are still certain risks and issues involved. In most cases, the undesirable strip scar is removed in the same fashion as the donor portion in a FUT procedure – by removing a portion of scalp (varying in width and length) from the universal donor zone and closing the wound with sutures or staples. Because of this, some issues associated with traditional hair transplant operations – scar stretching, laxity (“looseness”) in the donor region, and closure tension, are still relevant in a revision procedure.
However, one of the most significant complications from a scar revision procedure comes from many patient’s desire to obtain and implant additional follicular unit grafts from the excised scar region. During many revision operations, excess scalp (containing implantable grafts) is removed from around the scar region and the additional follicular grafts are transplanted into balding areas. However taking excess scalp (around the excised scar tissue) simply for the intent of obtaining extra grafts can often create another sub-optimal scar. In various cases, it may be advantageous to simply remove the scar tissue and close a smaller area instead of trying to revise the scar and obtain additional grafts.











