Effect of hair restoration surgery on the scalp sensitivity.

Background: Hair transplant procedure is a surgical procedure which affects the sensitivity of the scalp.

Objectives: To compare scalp two-point discrimination (2PD) values in healthy controls and patients who had hair transplant surgery.

Patients/methods: The comparative study was conducted in 25 healthy individuals and 25 patient who underwent hair transplant surgery (either strip surgery or FUE). An area was marked o scalp about 10 cm from the nasion. A caliper with 15 g weight was used. Both the prongs were ensured to be placed perpendicular to the skin. The contact time was only 2.0 seconds. An interval of 10 seconds was given before increasing the 2PD distance. In each measurement, the distance was increased by 1 mm. All the data were recorded and analyzed statistically using ANOVA test.

Results: The mean age of the control group was 29.72 and 31.7 years in patients' group. The average 2PD score in controls was 12.76 and 17.80 mm in patients. The average 2PD score was found to be 17.7 in patients who had surgery less than 18 months ago as compared to the score of 17.6 in patients who had surgery more than 18 months ago (P > .05). The smokers had less sensitivity as compared to the nonsmokers (P < .05).

Conclusion: The scalp sensitivity was found to be less than 39% in patients after hair transplant surgery.