Cutaneous complications related to permanent decorative tattooing

Abstract

Decorative tattooing involves the introduction of exogenous pigments and/or dyes into the dermis to produce a permanent design. Practiced for thousands of years, it has gained tremendous popularity during the past 20 years, especially among the young. Tattoo-associated cutaneous complications have only been reported since the end of the 19th Century. With the increased prevalence of tattooed individuals, dermatologists have witnessed increasing numbers of patients presenting with complaints about their tattoos. Complications primarily include infections, hypersensitivity reaction to tattoo pigments, benign and sometimes malignant tumors arising on tattoos, and the localization of various dermatoses to tattoos.

Keywords::

• adverse event
• hypersensitivity reaction
• ink
• pigment
• tattooing

Acknowledgements

The author is indebted to the dermatologists who kindly agreed to share their pictures of their personal cases of tattoo reactions.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The author has no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Notes

Of note, on some occasions, a tattoo may present a combination of histological patterns, such as a lichenoid reaction associated with an underlying granulomatous or pseudolymphomatous reaction.