Myth or Fact: A side effect of hair transplant surgery is having a case of nonstop hiccups after the procedure?

Some hair transplant patients can get hiccups after the surgery. It is not permanent but it is annoying.  Fortunately it is rare.

Yes, hiccups are a rare side effect of hair transplantation. You are right in that the medical literature has reported this as high as 5 -10 % of patients. However, it's likely much more rare than this, and this estimate is probably a bit high.  I see hiccups as a side effect in well under 1 % of patients and mostly in strip (FUT) patients than follicular unit extraction (FUE).The precise cause of hiccups after hair transplants is not well understood. All in all it appears that when a nerve known as the phrenic nerve gets stimulated, the diaphragm is stimulated to produce a 'hiccup'. It appears that a number of causes might be possible includingIrritation of the nerves in back of the scalp that ultimately stimulate the phrenic nerve. Phrenic nerve stimulation then triggers hiccups. Stomach dilation (gastric dilatation) from excessive intake of air during the surgery, food or carbonated beverages. This too triggers the phrenic nerve.Certains types of medications used during surgery including steroids.Hiccups sometimes go away in a few hours. Some patients are prescribed medications to help the hiccups, including a medication known as chlorpromazine. Other medications are sometimes used as well.

This is a rare event and is probably caused by a combination of medications used and irritation or the greater occipital nerve which shares a common root in the brain stem to the vagus nerve which runs to the diaphragm.  I have seen these in my practice in less than 2% of patients. They eventually go away but can be treated with the drug Thorazine.