Pretrimmed Versus Direct Nonshaven Follicular Unit Extraction

In a study with 42 patients, the pretrimmed method of follicular unit extraction (FUE) for hair transplantation was compared to the direct nonshaven (NS-FUE) method. The pretrimmed method took longer to harvest 50 grafts (3.4 minutes) than the direct method (2.6 minutes). However, both methods had similar transection rates, with 8.8% for pretrimmed and 7.5% for direct. The pretrimmed method resulted in a higher calculated density of hairs per graft (2.23) compared to the direct method (2.15), and the harvested hair was longer (1–4 mm vs. 0.4-0.8 mm). The study concluded that both methods are effective for hair transplantation, with the choice depending on the surgeon's skill and the case requirements.