Megasessions – How Do You Get Such Big Numbers?Posted by admin (on behalf of the doctor) on July 6th, 2009

Hi Doctor Hasson. I’ve read about megasessions and I’m wondering how they are performed safely. I’d like to have a hair transplant and sure I’d want as many grafts in one surgery as can be taken, but how can a clinic do a megasession without causing massive scarring?
— R.G.

Thank you for the question R.G. First let’s define what a megasession is for those who are not familiar with the term. A megasession, to most clinics, is a surgery that harvests in excess of 3000 grafts in a single surgical session. Here at Hasson & Wong, the top end of the number has increased greatly as we have now been performing 4000+ graft hair transplants routinely for many years. I’m pretty certain that it is safe to say that a megasession at Hasson & Wong is now around 4000+ grafts in a single session. Jerry Wong and I have performed 6000+, and 7,000+ surgeries in one session although numbers like that are not as common. Certain conditions must exist for a megasession to be possible, and performed safely. First of all, the hair transplant patient must have the available grafts in the safe donor zone (it goes without saying) and must have good scalp laxity. Laxity refers to the vertical movement in the donor scalp that is natural to each patient. The removal of the donor strip is something that I take very seriously and I consider this part of the procedure to be just as important as the placement of the grafts. A typical donor strip removal in our hands will take 1 hour to 1.5 hours whereas most other clinics will perform this part of the procedure in about 30 minutes. Our approach to donor strip removal allows for the least bit of transection and for the maximum amount of hair that can be safely removed in one session.

The hair transplant doctor must have a large team of experienced and a well trained staff to support such large surgeries. Megasessions are often long procedures (10+ hours) and are physically taxing. Therefore, the team must have experience and stamina and be rotated every few hours to say fresh. Both Doctor Wong and I have technical support staff that have been on our respective teams for years — some have been working with us for over 10 years. There is no replacement for a seasoned team.

Donor area depletion is not really a concern…a patient can go to clinic X and have 2 or even 3 surgeries, eventually depleting the donor area, or they can go to H&W or another high caliber clinic and have the surgery done in one session, getting as much coverage as is possible. Of course, patients must be aware that a lifelong course of medications such as Propecia — to stop further loss of native hair — is a must. In fact, we always recommend Propecia to our patients. It just doesn’t make sense to leave the native hair unguarded when further hair loss is inevitable. Hair loss is a progressive condition.

In many ways, megasessions are more beneficial than the multi-surgery model. First of all, there is less patient downtime. Secondly, megasessions are better financial value in the long run. It simply costs more to do multiple surgeries (price, time away from work, recovery) than one surgery that yields the same and sometimes more grafts in a single surgery. Many clinics take 2 or even 3 surgeries to transplant what Hasson & Wong routinely obtains in one. These multiple surgeries can leave worse scarring than one would develop from one larger megasession.

I hope this answers your questions. Megasessions are quite safe in the right hands, and, a megasession is the in the eye of the beholder. Not all clinics are created equally.

— Victor Hasson, MD

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