Use of topical minoxidil as a possible adjunct to hair transplant surgery. A pilot study.

Twelve patients, aged 21 to 60 years, with varying Hamilton classifications of androgenetic alopecia (male pattern baldness) were treated with a 3% solution of topical minoxidil. Therapy began 48 to 72 hours after hair transplant surgery. Two patients demonstrated hair growth in the grafts without the shedding that usually occurs 2 to 4 weeks after surgery. (In untreated patients after hair transplant surgery, regrowth begins 3 to 5 months after surgery, after the shedding period.) A review of the literature--and personal discussions with surgeons whose hair transplant experience spans 25 years--revealed no evidence of a similar report. In addition, two of the remaining 10 patients had regrowth less than 4 weeks after postsurgical telogen effluvium. Neither patient age nor number of grafts transplanted played a predictive role. The location of the operative procedure also failed to predict, or preclude, successful regrowth. Topical minoxidil may be an important adjunctive therapy during the recuperative period in patients who have undergone hair transplant surgery. Carefully controlled studies are needed to substantiate this preliminary observation.