Graft Dissection Rates in FUE Procedure

Dr. Wasserbauer began studying graft dissection rates in earnest in 2010 when she was the primary investigator for the FDA trials with the ARTAS Robotic FUE hair transplant device.  Below are her hair graft dissection results that patients have given their permission to have shared (note that not all her surgeries are represented here due to patient privacy concerns and only FUE cases are represented).

What is interesting is that as she has improved her technique and her graft dissection rates have steadily improved (all data reflect FUE surgery accomplished with a powered or manual FUE device).  Also, the number of grafts transplanted has increased and the time needed to recover those grafts has decreased.  This is an important metric for patients because any surgical hair transplant team has 6-8 hours to remove the grafts and return them to the scalp before survival rates start to drop.  Thus, if a patient is considering an FUE hair transplant, it might be wise to request this sort of information from their hair surgeon for during their initial consultation.

2010 FUE Surgery results Transection rates Graft Count Active surgery time Per Hour Rate
1/2010 14% 1525 4 hrs 435
2/2010 10% 1861 6.5 hrs 250
2/2010 8% 1295 4 hrs 375
5/2010 10% 1116 3 hrs 372
6/2010 19% 1668 5 hrs 375
7/2010 9% 1699 4 hrs 500
8/2010 2% 1830 4 hrs 400
10/2010 27% 1610 4 hrs 484
11% 1576 399
Range 2%-27% 1116-1861 3-6.5 hours 250-500
2011 FUE surgery results Transection rates Graft Count Active surgery time Per Hour Rate
1/2011 9% 300
2/2011 8% 1395 3 hrs 500
3/2011 15% 1626 4 hrs 450
3/2011 14% 1801 4 hrs 450
8/2011 22% 1616 5 hrs 500
10/2011 19% 1664 3.5 hrs 585
10/2011 8% 1987 3 hrs 668
11/2011 10% 2090 3 hrs 750
12/2011 1% 1785 3 hrs 750
12/2011 8% 2031 3 hrs 711
12/2011 12% 2214 3 hrs 800
11% 1683 616
Range 1-22% 300-2214 3-5 hours 450-800
2012 FUE surgery results Transection rates Graft Count Active surgery time Per Hour Rate
1/2012 5% 1844 3 hrs 667
2/2012 13% 1812 3 hrs 679
3/2012 4% 2411 3 hrs 833
3/2012 12% 1971 3 hrs 715
4/2012 7% 1888 3 hrs 667
5/2012 7% 1491 3 hrs 600
5/2012 8% 1842 3 hrs 675
8% 1894 691
Range 4-13% 1491-2411 3 hours 667-833

This data and chart are the property of Sara Wasserbauer, M.D. and cannot be used for any purposes without express permission. © Sara Wasserbaur, M.D.