Adson Extracting Forceps — Serrated

Follicular Unit Graft Handling and Slit-Site Implantation in Hair Transplant Surgery

The Adson Extracting Forceps — Serrated is an Adson-pattern extracting and implanting thumb forceps manufactured by BusinessMed Instruments®, eponymously attributed to Adson (Original Pattern), classified as Tissue Forceps / Graft-Handling Forceps, and indicated across Hair Transplant Surgery (FUE / FUT), Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, and Dermatologic Surgery.

The Adson Extracting Forceps — Serrated handles follicular unit grafts — full-thickness skin grafts containing epidermis, dermis, and fat — across the scalp dermis of the occipital donor region and recipient site, supporting follicular unit graft handling, extraction support, and slit-site implantation in both FUE and FUT — manufactured by BusinessMed Instruments®.

Fine Flat Platform Tips — Serrated (No Teeth)

The Fine Flat Platform Tips — Serrated (No Teeth) engage the follicular unit graft at the dermal and subdermal level. Transverse serrations distribute gripping force across the full tip contact surface, preventing the localized compression that characterizes toothed tip designs. Upon jaw closure, the serrated platform maintains purchase on the tissue without producing the point-load vectors that damage internal graft architecture. This distributed-load capture is the primary mechanism by which the Spring-Action Thumb Forceps (Non-Locking) handles the graft through extraction and transfer without inadvertent compression injury.

Angulated Tip Geometry

The angulated tip geometry — available in 40°, 45°, and 55° — constitutes a genuinely distinct second mechanism from the gripping action of the serrated platform. The angled tip redirects the instrument shaft to clear the surgeon’s sightline and aligns the tip vector with the angle of the recipient slit or extraction channel. This spatial and positional action is performed by the angled tip platform and is the mechanism by which the surgeon achieves correct directional and angular placement of the follicular unit at the recipient site.

Graft Viability and Intraoperative Outcome

The Adson Extracting Forceps — Serrated preserves the dermal sheath and perifollicular tissue by avoiding crush-load contact with the hair matrix cells and perifollicular neurovascular network across the full thickness of the follicular unit graft. In the extraction phase, the instrument enables the surgeon to assess whether the follicular unit graft is cleanly dissected and viable — corresponding to FOX score 1–2 — or whether transection has occurred, informing continuation or adjustment of punch technique. In the implantation phase, the instrument enables precise directional and angular seating of the follicular unit within the recipient slit, determining final hair growth direction and density distribution. A graft transection rate above 5% is the documented clinical threshold for acceptable FUE outcomes; FUE grafts are structurally more fragile than FUT strip grafts — a distinction documented in clinical patent literature (US Patent 11116543) — making the serrated non-toothed tip a clinical necessity for FUE applications. Graft crush injury — excessive compression damaging hair matrix cells and the perifollicular neurovascular network — and follicular transection are the two primary complications the instrument’s design directly addresses.

Clinical Uses and Applications

• Follicular unit grafts are extracted from occipital donor region scalp dermis in FUE immediately after the punch scores and frees the graft from adjacent dermal tissue.
• Follicular unit grafts are seated into recipient site scalp dermis in FUE and FUT to determine hair growth direction and density distribution.
• Follicular unit grafts are captured and transferred from donor scalp dermis to graft holding tray or directly to recipient slit site in both FUE and FUT.
• Scalp dermis is engaged across the full FUE procedural cycle, from extraction phase through slit-site implantation, to maintain graft viability below the 5% transection threshold.
• Follicular unit grafts are handled from strip dissection through slit-site implantation in Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) to preserve hair matrix cells during transfer.
• Scalp dermis at the recipient site is engaged in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery and Dermatologic Surgery procedures requiring follicular unit graft placement.

Associated Instruments

• FUE Punch — used in Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) immediately prior to forceps application in the extraction sequence.
• Toothed lifting forceps — used in FUE extraction in the two-forceps technique, providing counter-traction during follicular unit extraction in the same procedural phase.
• Forester forceps — used in FUE extraction for high-volume sequential follicular unit collection in the same procedural context.
• Micro-scalpel / slit-site blade — used in FUE and FUT implantation phase to create recipient site incisions into which follicular unit grafts are placed.
• Choi Implanter Pen — used in the recipient-site implantation phase as a documented alternative instrument for follicular unit graft placement in the same procedural context.
• Graft storage tray / chilled saline holding dish — used between extraction and implantation phases; the Adson Extracting Forceps — Serrated interfaces with this instrument during graft transfer.
• ATOE instrument — used in the FUE extraction sequence as a documented alternative extraction instrument in the same procedural context.

Frequently Asked Questions

Clinical References

• Follicular Unit Extraction — StatPearls
  NBK547740
• Instrumentation in Hair Transplantation — ISHRS Hair Transplant Forum International 32(3):73
  View Article
• Graft Handling and Implantation Technique — ISHRS Hair Transplant Forum International 34(6):197
  View Article
• FOX Test and Graft Viability Assessment in FUE — PubMed
  PMID 12174065