Difference Between FUT and FUE

Hi Dr. Rassman,
Thank you for the very informative blog. My question: what is the difference between FUE and the strip surgery? What are the advantages and disadvantages to each? And do you perform both procedures?

Briefly, FUE is more expensive and time consuming and will yield less hair grafts due to the longer procedure time and technical complexities. FUE, however, does not leave a linear scar seen in the “strip” surgery. The traditional “strip” surgery is more suited for large hair transplant sessions. It does produce a linear scar, but with new scar reducing techniques such as the trichophytic closure, it is a great surgery for patients who want the most hair in one session.

Finally, our surgeons at NHI are very proficient and well trained in the FUE and the “strip” procedure. In fact we wrote the pioneering medical article on Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE). And way back in 1998, Dr. Jae Pak (with his engineering background) and I had developed an automated video FUE technique, which was awarded a U.S. Patent.