Treatment of traumatic tattoo with the Q‐switched Nd:YAG laser

Abstract

Traumatic tattoos are undesirable tattoos caused by different foreign bodies such as fireworks' particles, sand, metals, glass, gunpowder, asphalt, dust, or petroleum products embedded forcefully in the dermis. We report the case of a 54-year-old man who presented with sand and asphalt tattooing on his face following a bomb explosion 15 years ago. Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at a wavelength of 1064 nm with a spot size of 4 mm and a fluence of 7.96 J/cm(2) were applied to treat the patient. The patient tolerated the treatment very well. Most of the blue dots became whitened immediately after the procedure and remained almost clear after a 6-month follow-up.

Efficacy and Safety of Picosecond-Domain neodymium-Doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet Laser Treatment on Various causes of Traumatic Tattoos

“…4 Failure to do so can leave a mark on the skin that likely necessitates laser-assisted treatment for removal. Previous investigations using nanoseconddomain lasers demonstrated that 1.7 to 2.4 sessions of Q-switched alexandrite laser treatment, 1.…”

“…2 These tattoos involve the forceful embedding of foreign bodies into the skin: potential materials include graphite, asphalt, petroleum products, sand, metals, glass, gunpowder, or dust. 4 When pigmented foreign bodies enter into the dermis, large phagosomes found in keratinocytes, macrophages, and mesenchymal cells engulf the particles, creating varying degrees of hypertrophic scar tissue. 5,6 Laser therapy has been regarded as the first-line treatment of choice for the removal of all types of tattoo pigments.…”

“…1,2,4,7,8 By delivering nanosecond-domain laser energy to the tattoo substances, explosive expansion of chromophores in the tattoo pigment results in fragmentation thereof into smaller particles by selective photothermolysis.…”

“…4,[16][17][18] Furthermore, in cases with large embedded traumatic tattoos, the use of ablative lasers, particularly an erbium:YAG laser, alone or in combination with pigment lasers provides satisfactory clinical outcomes. 19,20 However, in Asian patients, risk of posttreatment hyper-or hypopigmentation, textural alteration, and scarring is a concern.…”

“…19,20 However, in Asian patients, risk of posttreatment hyper-or hypopigmentation, textural alteration, and scarring is a concern. 1,2,4 Picosecond-domain laser devices irradiate laser energy at extremely shorter pulse durations than nanoseconddomain lasers. Thereby, picosecond laser pulses are able to generate photothermal reactions more rapidly and deliver photoacoustic effects more extensively to target chromophores and surrounding tissues.…”