Topical Minoxidil Used Before and After Hair Transplantation

The study investigated the use of topical minoxidil before and after hair transplantation surgery in 16 male patients with androgenetic alopecia. The therapy was started four weeks before surgery, interrupted for three weeks, and then continued for three months. Follow-up was done for three months on 64 grafts, and in 71% of the grafts, partial or total hair was still growing without shedding that usually occurs 2-4 weeks after transplantation. The study found that topical minoxidil seems to be an adjunct for a better evolution of grafts after hair transplantation surgery. The postoperative shedding phase that occurs in the grafts about three weeks after transplantation is an anagen defluvium and not a telogen effluvium. The study concluded that topical minoxidil used in pre- and postoperative hair transplantation was found to reduce postoperative shedding and improve regrowth of hair on transplants.