Patient satisfaction in hair transplant surgery

Objective To evaluate the patient’s satisfaction after hair transplantation. Patients and methods The study was carried out on 100 consecutive patients undergoing hair transplant surgery. All the patients were given a detailed preoperative consultation. Hair transplants were performed using local anaesthesia with adrenaline along with a mild oral sedative. The procedure was performed under clean conditions, sterile and disposable instruments and magnification. The donor strip was harvested with patient in prone position. The closure of donor area was done using a non-absorbable suture. Postoperatively, no bandages were applied and patients began shampooing after 48 hours. The stitches were removed after 10-12 days. To assess patient satisfaction, a questionnaire was filled about the important factors pertaining to the patient experience during and after hair transplantation. Results 98% of the patients rated the consultation as ‘excellent to good’, 2% as ‘satisfactory’, and none as ‘unsatisfactory’. 60% of the patients were ‘anxious’ during strip harvesting and 24% felt ‘normal’. 74% remained ‘normal’ on 1st postoperative night. 28% patients rated the overall experience as ‘excellent’, 38% as ‘good’. Conclusion Every surgeon performing hair transplantation should publish his patients satisfaction data from time to time, so that factors should be identified which can help improve the patients satisfaction