Number of sessions for 2000 graft FUE

[squiggle]

Hi - When speaking with the reps of some well-known doctors, I see that some of them say that a 2000 graft FUE will be performed over a single day, and some say that it will be done over two days.

How does one take that information into account when deciding which doctor to go with? What are the cons and pros associated with 1-versus-2-day operations?

 

Thanks,

S.

[Michael Vories, MD]

One day 2000 graft FUE sessions can only be successfully performed by efficient extractions. Slow extraction sessions push the time out of body for the grafts to the point that a 2000 graft session needs to be spread over two days. Other than the inconvenience of having surgery for two days instead of one, there should be no difference in the outcome.

[Sethticles]

Dr Bhatti harvested 3000 graft FUE session on me in a single day, 730am start 6pm finish, was a killer of day.....

[Spanker]

One day 2000 graft FUE sessions can only be successfully performed by efficient extractions. Slow extraction sessions push the time out of body for the grafts to the point that a 2000 graft session needs to be spread over two days. Other than the inconvenience of having surgery for two days instead of one, there should be no difference in the outcome.

 

How many hours do you consider safe for a graft to be out of body?

 

With FUE, can you not exctract 1000, plant and then extract another 1000?

[Michael Vories, MD]

Taking out 1000 and placing 1000, then repeating after lunch is reasonable, but again only if the extraction (and placement) speed is there. Extending the procedure is not only hard on the patient, but the possibility of graft popping increases with patient discomfort. If the speed is not there, better to split the case in two days. We try to limit time out of body to no more than 6 hours, but the evidence for this (with FUE grafts) is lacking. We figure that with the more fragile FUE grafts, it better to be conservative. Our current standard is 2000 grafts in one day, starting at 7 AM, and finishing at 4 PM. We place the grafts we first extract to stay within the 6 hour window.