Research Information System
JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGICAL SCIENCES, vol.39, no.4, pp.191-194, 2021 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)
Objective: Tattooing has become more popular, especially in Western culture. We
aimed to analyze the impacts of the presence of tattoos in the operative field for
posterior thoracolumbar surgery. Methodology: This study was performed using
data extracted from the medical files of 15 patients who underwent posterior
thoracolumbar surgery between April 2013 and May 2020 in the neurosurgery
department of our tertiary care center. Therapeutic, clinical, and cosmetic
outcomes after surgery necessitating incision on the tattoo are presented together
with a brief discussion of the current literature. Results: Our series consisted of
nine women and six men with an average age of 31.03 (range, 17–45) years.
The duration of follow‑up was 52 (range, 6–90) months. Ten patients underwent
posterior spinal stabilization, and a simple discectomy was performed on five
patients. The therapeutic outcomes and clinical improvement were satisfactory in
all patients. No complications attributed to the presence of tattoos were detected
in any patients. Conclusion: Posterior thoracolumbar surgery usually necessitates
a midline incision that may unavoidably result in the deformation of a tattoo. Our
results yielded that therapeutic and cosmetic results in patients with tattoos in
the operative field were acceptable in the vast majority of cases after posterior
thoracolumbar surgery.