Establishment and clinical application of the concept of invalid extraction rates in follicular unit extraction

Objective: This study aims to establish the concept of invalid extraction rates in follicular unit extraction and evaluate its clinical value. Methods: The present study involved 30 patients with alopecia. Three young surgeons (nominated A, B, and C) each performed follicular unit extraction on a randomly selected portion of the donor site of each patient for ten minutes. The outcomes were separately recorded and calculated, and converted to an invalid extraction rate for each surgeon using the formula, “invalid extraction rate = 1 − successfully extracted follicular units/actually extracted units × 100%.” Results: The follicular unit invalid extraction efficiency of each surgeon gradually declined. The average efficiency level of surgeon B was evaluated as excellent, while the levels of surgeons A and C were evaluated as good. Conclusion: With experience, surgeons can speed up the process of follicular unit extraction and gradually increase performance quality through both extraction speed and success rate.