Successful Removal of Traumatic Tattoos in Asian Skin with a Q‐switched Alexandrite Laser

background Traumatic tattoos result from mechanical penetration of the skin by foreign‐body particles associated with puncture, abrasive, or explosive trauma. Until the recent development of the Q‐switched lasers, it was not possible to remove tattoo pigments without scar and pigmentary changes. obj...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Dermatologic surgery 1998-12, Vol.24 (12), p.1308-1311
Main Authors: Chang, Sung‐Eun, Choi, Jee‐Ho, Moon, Kee‐Chan, Koh, Jai‐Kyoung, Sung, Kyung‐Jeh
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Asian Continental Ancestry Group
Biological and medical sciences
Blast Injuries - etiology
Blast Injuries - surgery
Child
Child, Preschool
Cicatrix, Hypertrophic - etiology
Cicatrix, Hypertrophic - surgery
Dermatology
Female
Humans
Infant
Korea
Laser Therapy - instrumentation
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Pigmentation Disorders - etiology
Pigmentation Disorders - surgery
Skin - injuries
Skin involvement in other diseases. Miscellaneous. General aspects
Tattooing
Treatment Outcome
Tropical medicine
Wounds, Penetrating - etiology
Wounds, Penetrating - surgery
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Summary:background Traumatic tattoos result from mechanical penetration of the skin by foreign‐body particles associated with puncture, abrasive, or explosive trauma. Until the recent development of the Q‐switched lasers, it was not possible to remove tattoo pigments without scar and pigmentary changes. objective The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the Q‐switched alexandrite laser (wavelength, 755 nm; pulsewidth, 100 ns), in treating the 27 cases of Asian skin with 36 traumatic tattoos and to observe any side effects such as scarring or pigmentary change. methods The results of treatments on 16 patients with 19 penetrant tattoos, 10 patients with 16 abrasive tattoos and 1 patient with bomb explosion were clinically analyzed. results Greater than 76% removal of tattooed pigments required an average of 1.7 treatment sessions in penetrant tattoos in contrast with 2.4 sessions in abrasive tattoos. The excellent removal of traumatic tattoos required 7.5 J/cm2 except the scarred region of one explosive tattoo and one abrasive tattoo on soil. There were no permanent side effects such as scar or permanent pigmentary changes. conclusion In conclusion, the Q‐switched alexandrite laser is a safe and highly effective modality for removal of various traumatic tattoos without scar or permanent pigmentary change in Asian skin.
ISSN:1076-0512
1524-4725
DOI:10.1111/j.1524-4725.1998.tb00005.x