Hi I'm just curious if any of the clinics who perform FUE regularly could help to answer this question. I've heard that FUE could yield up to 20% transected/damaged FU, whereas FUT typically has like 1-2%?

This is mainly due to the estimated angle of entry when using the extraction tool vs. the microscopic dissection in strip method.

Is this accurate or have clinics been able to master the extraction method to reduce the risk of damaging FU's?

Thanks for your help, I'm still torn between choosing FUE vs FUT.

Those figures you're throwing out there are a little rough..maybe you just wanna provoke discussion bt I think people will be wary. Anyway, although the topic is well covered it will always have a relevance as long as people are getting reults with both and both are producing results.

With transection..both have transection, both have collatoral damage but with strip the 'fat factor' helps the graft survive, maybe it's a cushion, an insulation, protection from de-hydration? so this puts the onus on the FUE surgeon and his/her team to be super vigilent in regards to the the extraction and handling of the FUE grafts and from donor to recpient site, the graft will be handled how many times and how many people will handle it?
1) The extraction tool will surround it and purge it (1) from the surrounding tissue
2) A different tool, and quite possibly, a different pair of hands, will pull it (2) out of the skin, hopefully in one motion and place it on to the rubber surface of the surgical glove on the their other hand
3) Then, as the grafts build up on the surface of the glove, another pair of hands, again in the grasp of a tool, will pick it up(3) put it in a tray
4) Then, again, another set of hands will pick it up(4), examine it and sort it(5) according to the number of hairs in the follicle
6) Then another pair of hands will pick it up again (6) out of the tray and slide it into the recipient site -this often requires more than one gentle push so (7) +
So that graft is subject to squeezing at least 6 times, on two surfaces, that makes 12 hits. By far the most traumatic would be the extraction

THATS WHY THE WHO DOES THE WORK IN FUE IS VITAL and with the variety of extraction tools on the market, it's anyone's guess which is good, right?
Maybe so, until I know about these new machines for sure, I would consider the best protocol to be doctor does everthing! If that's not possible, the bare minimum would be, 1) Doctor does all extractions (the punch part, not the pulling out part) 2) Uses a manual extraction tool
3) makes all recipient holes 3) a small team of techs does the rest

I don't like strip scars so I don't recommend strip unless you are 100 and then it's probably not safe anyway, but I have no doubt in my mind that strip grafts survive better, on the other hand strip does waste a lot of grafts through transection.
1) Linear Incision line, I7ve been personally told by a very respected doc, that 5% casualty rate along the line (remeber that line is twice as long as the strip scar you get before its circumference is joined) is the best you can hope for. But a good think about this is, they wont transplant much of that stuff, hopefully. When the strip is slices and diced, there is transection during the slithering process, where the steak is cut up into smaller pieces and then more duringt he process itself, ut once again, you may never have these put into your head. THe dissecting tech cannot fully see th graft they are chopping out , only the exposed side, but with experience, they would have a pretty good idea and once they start chopping they probably get a feel for a way a particular patients characteristics are. I think less techs is better, but slower. Finally, don't forget the telegen hairs in a strip. They survive the FUE purge but wjere do they go in the strip. The bin is my guess.

God luck with the search