Practice Question Answers: Lasers for Tattoo Removal
This fact sheet served to review the Q-switched lasers that are most efficacious for tattoo removal and discuss the pigments they can target. Picosecond lasers are included, and common side effects of lasers for tattoo removal are described.
1. Which tattoo color is most commonly associated with allergic reactions that are eczematous, lichenoid, or granulomatous?
a. orange
b. purple
,c. red
d. white
e. yellow
2. Which of the following lasers is the optimal device to use for tattoo removal?
a. argon laser
b. CO2
c. intense pulsed light
d. pulsed dye laser
e. quality-switched ruby, alexandrite, or Nd:YAG laser
3. Which of the following is the most important treatment end point in tattoo removal?
a. edema
b. erythema
c. immediate darkening
d. immediate whitening
e. pinpoint bleeding
4. Which of the following organisms recently has been implicated in tattoo infections?
a. Mycobacterium chelonae
b. Mycobacterium ulcerans
c. Pseudomonas aeruginosa
d. Staphylococcus aureus
e. Streptococcus pyogenes
5. Darkening of which tattoo color(s) is the most frequently associated and worrisome side effect from a quality-switched laser?
a. light red
b. pink
c. white
d. a and b
e. a, b, and c