Question:
I have been looking into hair transplantation and I was surprised to find that these are performed in the doctor’s office. Is this normal? If it is surgery, should it be performed in a hospital? What should I look for safety-wise in a surgeon’s office-based facility?
Answer:
Hair transplantation that is done with simple Valium sedation by mouth and injected Xylocaine for local anesthesia has very little surgical risk or anesthesia risk. There is no reason why a healthy individual cannot have this procedure done in an office. As with anything else, if you are doing anything involving even local surgery in an office, what should be looked for is that the surgeon’s office is well equipped with all necessary emergency material and also that the office itself is clean and that the nurses and the physician himself are well-schooled in the whole process of hair transplantation.
Posted by Dr. Galitz