

India ink was the most common type of ink for many years. 2Įndoscopic tattooing has been used since the 1970s for marking lesions along the GI tract. According to the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), the other inks are less useful with respect to safety, efficacy, and ease of use. Many nurses and physicians are most familiar with india ink and Spot. There are several types of ink available for use in endoscopy tattooing, including india ink, Spot™ (purified, very fine carbon particles), methylene blue, indigo carmine, and indocyanine green (ICG). The potential for the surgeon to remove the wrong section of bowel. The need for the surgeon to do an interoperative colonoscopy.The need for the surgeon to change from a laparoscopic to an open procedure.Additional surgeries because the surgeon must go back to find the lesions.

Longer surgical times while the surgeon attempts to locate the lesions.When a surgeon cannot locate a lesion during surgery, the potential risks include: By localizing lesions with very clear, permanent tattoo marks, colon resection surgery and follow-up surveillance is much easier. Patients, surgeons and gastroenterologists all benefit from having colorectal lesions tattooed. Even if a lesion looks like it will be easy to find later on, the anatomy of the bowel can contribute to imprecise measurements for the procedure reports, so it is often recommended that all suspicious lesions be tattooed. Therefore the lesion location is tattooed so that it can later be found on subsequent screening or for surgical resection. When a gastroenterologist or surgeon sees a lesion in the GI tract, it is often unknown whether or not it is cancerous until a biopsy result is obtained.
HIGGINS INDIA INK FOR TATTOOS FULL
Since almost all GI Endoscopy nurses have had to hand their gastroenterologist or surgeon a syringe full of ink for lesion marking, below is a quick guide to help answer some common questions:Įndoscopic tattooing or marking of lesions plays a very important role in patient care.

This includes helping to educate staff on the importance of certain procedures, including endoscopic tattooing. Gastroenterology and endoscopy nurses play a large role in the safety and efficiency of GI Endoscopy suites.
