How Long Do Grafts Survive Outside the Body During Hair Transplant Surgery?

This question, from a member of our [tag]hair loss[/tag] social community and discussion forums, was answered by Coalition hair transplant surgeon Dr. Glenn Charles:

I had a [tag]follicular unit extraction[/tag] ([tag]FUE[/tag]) transplant of 500 beard hairs into my scar 12 months ago and it’s been a complete failure. It was an 18 hour procedure which was very painful. My [tag]hair transplant[/tag] surgeon bent several needles when trying to penetrate my scar. The grafts were out of my body for 15 hours. Here I am a year later and my scar is the same as before. Do you think the time out of the body was too long for the grafts to survive? I tried to ask this question to the doctor but she said [tag]follicular unit[/tag] grafts can survive up to 24 hours. I emailed this doctor a few times and she won’t reply.

Grafts survival rates do decline the longer they are out of body. It has been shown that a graft can survive up to 24 hours. However, those studies had the grafts in refrigerated saline dishes. I wonder if your hair restoration physician is getting your email because not responding to them is no way to treat a patient. Even if the results are not great.

Grafting into scars is always difficult and very unpredictable.

Dr. Glenn Charles

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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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