REMOVAL OF TATTOO BY 1064 AND 532nm Q-SWITCHED Nd:YAG LASER

Abstract

Background: A tattoo is made of particles of pigment injected into the skin. Although the body attempts to remove them, the particles of tattoo are too large to be removed and the body responds by encapsulating the whole tattoo in a wall of collagen that traps it within the skin permanently.Objective: to evaluate Nd-YAG laser effects for removing tattoo.Materials & Methods: The study was done on 99 tattoo lesions (in both genders) on different parts of the body (hand, foot, face and chest), ages were between 21- 60 years, and most common age group was between 20-30 years. In this work, tattoo were divided according to its colors, into black, blue, green, and red (The red color always shares with other colors), and each subdivided to amateur and professional tattoos. Quality-switched (Q-switched) 1064 nm, Nd: YAG laser, pulse width of 10 nanosecond and repetition rate (R.R) 5 Hz with different fluencies (energy/area) was used. These parameters were used for black, green, and blue tattoos. To red color tattoo 532nm Nd: YAG Q-switched laser, 7 ns pulse duration, R.R 10Hz, fluencies from 7.3 -10.3 Joule/cm2 was used. The exposure time needed for treatment was from 2-5 min. according to the size of tattoo. Time interval between two sessions was from 3-4 weeks.Results: Black and blue color tattoo removed rather completely with faint shadow. Red color tattoo removed completely. For green color tattoo there was no responses. In this study the treatment with Q-switched Nd: YAG laser offers bloodless, low-risk, no permanent complication, no scarring, and no disfigurements in skin.Conclusion: Laser use is considered standard treatment for patient seeking tattoo removal.Keyword: Tattoo/ Q-switched Nd: YAG laser/ Fluencies.