What leads to a wide donor scar

Question:
What leads to a wide donor scar and how can this be avoided?

Answer:
Wide donor scars are usually the result of a wound that is closed with too much tension along the upper and lower edges of the wound. In hair transplantation, this can occur when the donor strip is removed for the transplantation procedure. Generally, a running single layer closure is used on the superficial aspects of the donor wound to close the wound.

In patients who have tight scalps or in cases where a wider donor strip is necessary for that specific case, this can potentially lead to increased force needed to close the wound and approximate the upper and lower margins of the wound.

There are several methods that can be used to decrease the amount of tension necessary to close the donor wound.

The most commonly and probably the most successful way to decrease the amount of tension in a hair transplantation donor wound is to perform a two layer donor site closure. The deeper area would be closed with an absorbable suture to approximate the wound approximately 60% to 70% of its original length and 20% to 30% approximation could be done much more easily using a superficial non-absorbable running suture.

This technique generally leads to a very fine linear donor scar that is very, very hard to detect and with a small amount of hair growth above and below the area where the donor hair was taken. This small scar can be easily camouflaged.

Posted by: Dr. Charles