Ethical Considerations in the Age of FUE Donor Harvesting
November 2023
in “
Facial Plastic Surgery
”
TLDR The document concludes that FUE hair restoration is often misleadingly advertised and raises ethical concerns regarding patient evaluation and business practices.
The document discusses the ethical issues surrounding follicular unit excision (FUE), a popular hair restoration technique. FUE is often preferred over linear strip excision (LSE) surgery due to the perception that it leaves less evidence of a surgical procedure, as it avoids a linear scar. It is also easier to learn, less invasive, and requires fewer resources. However, the paper highlights that FUE is often misleadingly marketed as "scarless surgery", which, along with the ease of starting an FUE practice, has led to ethical concerns related to evaluation, methodology, and business practices. The document also examines the mathematics of donor management in relation to the ethical management of the FUE patient.
