Local Anesthesia Techniques in Hair Restoration Surgery

The document from 7 years ago discusses various techniques used to administer local anesthesia during hair restoration surgery. The authors emphasized the importance of a pain-free experience to increase patient satisfaction and encourage return for subsequent procedures. Techniques included the use of a handheld massage device to distract the patient during initial injections, using a small 0.3 mL syringe with a 31 gauge needle, and waiting a few seconds between injections. Initial injections were made along the direction of hair growth and were superficial enough to create skin blebs. A topical anesthetic was applied on intact skin anterior to the recipient area at the beginning of the procedure. Reinforcing the anesthesia at the donor area before the patient leaves was found to decrease postoperative pain. The authors also used lorazepam for relaxation, antiemetic agents to prevent nausea and vomiting, and lidocaine for its rapid onset of action. Bupivacaine was used for subsequent anesthesia maintenance due to its longer duration of action.