Slit Technique
The slit technique is an implantation method where recipient sites are created before graft placement. It allows controlled angle, depth, and spacing, supporting efficient implantation, but requires accurate planning to avoid density errors or vascular compromise.
The slit technique separates two jobs that can otherwise collide. All recipient sites are cut first, then grafts are placed into them. Because the design exists before a single graft is handled, angle, direction, spacing and depth are decided while the surgeon can still see the whole field — and placement afterwards becomes a fast, repeatable step.
Slit orientation is the real variable. A slit is a line, and the line can run in two directions relative to the head.
| Sagittal | Coronal | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs | Front to back, parallel to hair flow | Side to side, across hair flow |
| Strength | Slides between existing hairs with less risk to them | Holds the graft broadside, giving finer control of direction |
| Trade-off | Less control over lateral fanning | Higher risk to native hair in a thinning area |
The blade is chosen to match the graft, not the marketing. Sites are made with custom-cut blades, needles or crystal-tipped blades, sized to the graft that will go into them. A site wider than the graft leaves it loose; a site narrower crushes it on entry.
Its limitation is time. Sites are open while grafts wait, so the sequence has to be organised around keeping that interval short. Where sites are made and filled in the same motion with an implanter, that interval disappears — a different trade, not a better one.
Related terms
For placement with an implanter pen instead of pre-made sites, see the DHI technique. For the procedure as a whole, see the FUE technique.
