Comparison of treatment with an Alexandrite picosecond laser and Nd:YAG nanosecond laser for removing blue–black Chinese eyeliner tattoos

ABSTRACT

Objective: To retrospectively evaluate the efficacy of an Alexandrite picosecond laser versus Nd:YAG nanosecond laser for removing blue–black eyeliner tattoos which have existed more than 10 years.

Methods: A total of 40 patients were treated with an Alexandrite picosecond laser in our department from August 2015 to July 2017, with a fluence of 1.96–6.37J/cm², spot size of 2.0–3.6 mm, and pulse width of 750 ps. Another 32 patients were treated with an Nd:YAG nanosecond laser, with a fluence of 2.80–7.00 J/cm², spot size of 3 mm, and pulse width of 5–20 ns. All analysed patients completed at least one treatment and follow-up.

Results: The median number of treatment for all the patients was 1 (range, 1–4). After a single session, no difference was found between the two lasers for the eyeliner removal (p > 0.05). For the people who achieved an excellent response of tattoo clearance, there was still no difference between the two groups (p > 0.05). Transient side effects were observed in two groups, but neither group had significant adverse reactions.

Conclusions: To treat blue–black Chinese eyeliner tattoos over 10 years, Alexandrite picosecond laser does not provide better clearance than the Nd:YAG nanosecond laser.

KEYWORDS:

• Alexandrite picosecond laser
• Nd:YAG nanosecond laser
• eyeliner tattoos

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (CIFMS-2017-I2M-1-017), PUMC Youth Fund and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (3332015115).

Declaration of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (CIFMS-2017-I2M-1-017), PUMC Youth Fund and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (3332015115).