Comprehensive Prevention for Edema after Hair Transplantation: A Multicenter Study of 1167 Patients

BACKGROUND: Postoperative edema is the most common complication of hair transplantation. Although triamcinolone tumescent solution (TTS) has been shown to effectively reduce edema, a minority of patients may still experience severe edema. This study aims to explore optimized procedures and conduct a systematic analysis comparing TTS with our comprehensive prevention (CP) procedure for preventing postoperative edema. METHODS: A prospective multicenter study was designed. Patients from 4 centers were divided into 2 groups. Different from the TTS group, the CP group adopted a modified tumescent anesthetic solution, injected it into the subcutaneous tissue layer, and eliminated excess solution after site creation. Follow-up evaluated the degree of edema, patient satisfaction, and complications. RESULTS: The study involved 1167 patients who underwent hair transplantation. In the TTS group, 8.94% of patients experienced edema, including 1.4% with severe periorbital edema. By contrast, in the CP group, only 2.66% of patients experienced edema ( P < 0.0001), and no cases of severe edema were observed. In addition, in the CP group, ecchymosis was significantly reduced ( P < 0.0001) and higher patient satisfaction was demonstrated ( P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The CP procedure has demonstrated superior efficacy compared with TTS in preventing postoperative edema and ecchymosis and improving patient satisfaction with hair transplantation.