Abstract
Patients with allergic tattoo reactions are burdened with itch and have a reduced quality of life. Conservative treatment is often insufficient and little is known about treatment options to remove the responsible allergen. We aimed to address the effectiveness and safety of ablative laser therapy including measurement of patient’s satisfaction, in patients with allergic reactions to tattoos. A retrospective study was conducted including patients with allergic tattoo reactions who were treated with a 10,600 nm ablative CO2 laser, either by full-surface ablation or fractional ablation. Clinical information originated from medical files and a 25-item questionnaire. Sixteen tattoo allergy patients were treated with a CO2 laser between January 2010 and January 2018. Fourteen patients completed the questionnaire. Ten patients were satisfied with laser treatment. On a visual analogue scale, pruritus and burning improved with a median of 5.5 and 4 points in the full surface ablation group and 3 points on both parameters in the fractional ablation group. Despite the relatively small group of patients, our results suggest that CO2 laser ablation improves itching, burning and impact on daily life in tattoo allergy.
Highlights
Tattooing is a worldwide popular form of body art with an overall prevalence in Europe and the USA of approximately 10–20% [1]
Patients were eligible for inclusion if clinically an allergic reaction was diagnosed and if they were treated with the ablative CO2 laser
Two patients were first treated with the fractional CO2 laser without clinical improvement and were treated with full surface ablation
Summary
Tattooing is a worldwide popular form of body art with an overall prevalence in Europe and the USA of approximately 10–20% [1]. It is regarded safe, adverse reactions may occur, including allergic reactions. Many dyes are used for tattooing, but the red dye is most frequently associated with allergic reactions [2, 3]. These reactions are chronic and persistent, characterised by itch, burning and pain and can develop months to many years after getting a tattoo. Several clinical subtypes can be recognised of which the ‘plaque type’ is most common.
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