Template Stamps to Estimate Recipient Site Density in Hair Transplantation

There are two ways to prepare the recipient sites that will hold follicular unit grafts: premade sites, in which the surgeon prepares all of the sites before graft insertion, and the “stick and place” technique, in which the sites and grafts are made and placed one at a time. Irrespective of the technique that the surgeon uses, there is no reliable method of preparing the sites that ensures homogenous distribution and consistent density of the incisions in the recipient zone. The surgeon usually relies on experience and good visual technique. Because of the importance, and the difficulty, of creating the sites at a specific density, we have developed a simple but objective method based on the use of “stamp templates,” which are painted onto the patient’s scalp skin before making the incisions.