Although it is an aesthetic procedure, hair transplantation is still a medical procedure that involves real risks. In the form of medical procedures, a typical hair transplant involves relatively few risks. However, these risks can escalate if you choose a non-specialist doctor or clinic – including deaths from hair transplants. In an effort to save a quick amount, many hair loss sufferers travel to developing countries for cheaper hair transplant surgeries. In these countries, many clinics often practice illegally. 

In addition, many of the clinics “entice and change” their clients. The standard accounts claim that after impressing the patient with the doctor’s credentials, the unlicensed medical assistant is then transferred to perform the surgery. This benefit puts the patient at a huge risk of complications.

Hair transplants are medical procedures that require the highest level of care and attention. Therefore, it is important to protect yourself from professionals who are not involved in the procedure with the patience and detail required for surgery. The patient must exercise due diligence and take responsibility for the practice and the physician whose doctor they end up trusting not only in their appearance but also in their life.

How To Prevent Hair Transplant Complications?

If you are traveling abroad for a hair transplant, it is important to know the details of the procedure:

First of all, check to make sure all staff are certified to perform their respective roles in your process with doctors and paramedics doing whatever falls within the doctor’s jurisdiction. Will staff be allowed to make incisions or collect implants during surgery?

All parts involved in surgery are covered by poor security

Then ask if the surgery is normal

Make sure that certified staff will monitor you throughout the procedure and that all staff will work under the supervision of a person authorized by the State Medical Council to perform surgery.

Confirm that the process will be monitored by staff certified in basic life support – BLS and Advanced Cardiac Life Support.

Find out what kind of anesthesia will be used on you

Find out what medications could be given during surgery and verify allergies / side effects

They have invested in cardiac screens that should be used during surgery to monitor vital parameters such as blood pressure, pulse, oxygen saturation, etc. during the process.

Risks of hair transplantation

There are some signs that should alert the patient to potential dangers when going to a clinic or doctor for a hair transplant procedure:

Be sure to give your doctor a detailed medical history before the procedure. The history should include a detailed summary of all medications and allergies. Patients should consider it a red flag if a clinic does not have a routine protocol that records a detailed medical history, including a history of drug use and allergies.

Patients should generally avoid clinics that try to operate after a minimum office period. A very bad sign should undergo surgery within 24 hours of first contact with a clinic.

Avoid clinics that do not have a clear post-surgery care protocol. Hair transplantation is half the process, a significant part of it comes after surgery.

Hair transplant deaths: General anesthesia versus local anesthesia

General anesthesia (GA) is a mixture of drugs that will cause loss of consciousness in a patient before surgery. When a patient has general anesthesia, he will not feel pain. When anesthetized, the brain does not respond to pain signals or reflexes. On the other hand, local anesthesia causes the absence of sensation in a specific part of the body. 

In local anesthesia, the person is fully awake as the anesthetic is injected into the area where numbness is desired. General anesthesia carries many risks of complications including death. Many causes of death that occur during surgery occur as a direct result of the general anesthetic complication rather than the surgery itself. For this reason, GA should be intended for major surgeries where necessary and necessary. Hair transplantation is not such an important surgery. It is a cosmetic surgery that can be performed completely using only local anesthetics.

Risks of general anesthesia in hair transplant procedures:

General anesthesia is harmful to hair transplant patients for many reasons:

First of all, it increases the risk of death. General anesthesia independently has a higher risk of death than the hair transplant procedure itself. Thus, hair transplantation is a selective procedure, it introduces an additional and avoidable risk of death.

The quality of the work is reduced because the doctor is in a hurry to complete the surgery, as there is a limit to the number of hours he must undergo general anesthesia. With the time limit caused by GA independently, the surgeon should rush to complete the surgery within the limited time required by GA. When doctors perform surgery, the whole team feels compelled in the operating room to do many things at once. This puts the patient at greater risk of staff error because such haste can be supervised.

There are some countries, such as France and Brazil, where general anesthesia for hair transplantation is the norm. Therefore, it is important to know your doctor’s anesthetic procedure before continuing the procedure.

The most common causes of death from hair transplantation

The most common cause of death in hair transplantation is:

• The use of general anesthesia.
• Reaction to drugs

In short, if you are considering a hair transplant, do your homework and take into account the serious nature of the medical procedure you will undergo with full understanding that not only your appearance but also your life is what you trust in the clinic I choose.

It does not matter if your hair loss is caused by unfortunate genes, medications, age, stress or other factors. Hair transplantation can improve your self-confidence, happiness and self-esteem. But there are some things you should avoid to ensure that your recovery is fast and comfortable and the results of your treatment are successful and satisfactory. To find out more about what to avoid after hair transplant, the cost of hair transplantation and what to do, contact the professional beauticians of our clinic.