Avoidance of tattoo disruption: a further benefit of laparoscopic surgery

The Influence of Tattoos on Health Care Experiences

Background Tattoos are an artistic, visible reflection of an individual's personality and life. According to Goffman and subcultural identity theory, the population with tattoos wants to be different from mainstream society. Method A qualitative descriptive phenomenological research process was used. Results Twelve participants described deep personal identity connections to their large, visible tattoos. They experienced positive reactions (n = 2, 16%), no reaction/acknowledgment (n = 7, 58%), or negative reactions (n = 3, 25%) from health care providers. Conclusion Comments made by health care providers tend to be remembered regardless of the context and can contribute to health and care disparities. Participants who received negative reactions to their tattoos switched providers. Those who received no reactions could have felt insignificant. Ongoing culturally sensitive education is important. Tattoos can start meaningful conversations that allow health care providers to gain valuable insight. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2022;53(4):178-184.].

Abdominal tattoo can be useful to avoid a midline abdominal incision

We report a case in which abdominal tattoo margins were modified and used to hide the surgical incision for desmoid tumour removal. Our patient is a 37-year-old female with history remarkable for atrial septal defect closure at the age of ten, but not for previous abdominal surgeries or trauma. A desmoid tumour diagnosis was made upon needle biopsy of the 5 × 4 cm² mass confined to the rectus abdominis. Subsequently, tumour was resected with an incision through the tattoo upper margin and abdominal wall was reconstructed with primary fascial closure mesh reinforced. Excision was radical, scar inconspicuous and no incisional hernia, bulging, nor tumour recurrence were detected at 2-year follow-up. This report highlights the fact that an abdominal tattoo might be considered as incision access instead of typical midline incision.