Tattoos: could they be used to advantage as a medical alert in oral and maxillofacial surgery?
Many publications have addressed the medical complications of tattoos, but to our knowledge there are no reports of their use to alert people in our field of potentially dangerous conditions. We present a new way to inform oral and maxillofacial colleagues about patients with a history of malignant hyperthermia (or any other life-threatening medical problem) and discuss the potential advantages and disadvantages of medical alert tattoos.
Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust, Combe Park, Bath BA1 3NG. Electronic address: serryth@yahoo.com.
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Colbert
Queen Alexandra Hospital, Cosham, Portsmouth PO6 3LY. Electronic address: peter.brennan@porthosp.nhs.uk.
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Brennan
D006801:Humans; D008305:Malignant Hyperthermia; D019647:Oral Surgical Procedures; D013653:Tattooing
alert tattoo; life threatening illness