Is it OK to do an MRI on a tattooed patient?

Hello. My name is Satomina and I am a doctor in Japan.

It is said that it is contraindicated to do an MRI on a person with tattoos. However, the famous Messi and Sergio Ramos have a tremendous number of tattoos.

He has so many tattoos all over his arms.

When you watch their games, they fall down many times during the game and look like they are in pain. ...... So, Satomina, a young doctor, thinks,

"If this guy breaks a bone, he will get an MRI.

What if this guy breaks a bone and needs an MRI?

Yes, that's right.

Can he get an MRI?

Tattoos use metal powder to add color.

Textbook knowledge is that MRIs are contraindicated for tattooed patients because they react to the powerful magnetic field of the MRI and cause burns and other adverse events on the patient's skin.

When you think about it, there are a great many soccer players who have tattoos, whether Messi or Neymar.

In their case, it is not a case of "I got a little tattoo... lol.”

“I've got a whole body of pain! HAHAHA!”

This is what happens when the magnetic field of an MRI inflames tattoos all over your body: ......!

Scary, isn't it?

They are, of course, at high risk of breaking a bone or damaging a ligament, but can you get an MRI then?

But for orthopedic surgeons, it is difficult to identify bone and ligament lesions with just X-rays and CT ...... (maybe it's not impossible), so I don't think they can avoid taking MRIs.

However, Messi, Neymar, and Sergio Ramos are apparently not burned.

So, I did some research on MRIs for tattoos and how much of an effect they have on tattoos.

I searched Pubmed for 'tattoo MRI' and found .......

Tattoo-induced skin "burn" during magnetic resonance imaging in a professional football player (A case report)".
(A case report of tattoo-induced skin "burn" during magnetic resonance imaging in a professional football player)

There was a case report.

This is the only case report that I could find.

The skin of a tattooed soccer player ...... naturally brings to mind Messi's full body tattoo.

That's the "burnt" case.......

I knew he was burned.

So let's see what's inside.

Let's see: ......

A 24-year-old white male professional American football player...

A 24-year-old white male professional American football player.

Yes, I forgot that ......football is a very confusing word that refers to "soccer" in the US while it refers to "soccer" in Europe... ....

Well, it is no longer a big difference. They are both athletes.

Now, the case report says this.

A 24-year-old male came to our hospital complaining of discomfort in his right hamstring. He is a professional American football player by profession.

He has flexion limitation in his right knee joint. There are no other abnormal neurological or dermatological findings, but he has tattoos all over his body.

But I decided to get an MRI, so I did (hey, what about contraindications?)

Approximately 5 minutes after initiation of the study, the patient began to experience a sudden burning pain over the suprapatellar regions of both knees.

As I expected, he complained of pain.

The burning pain ...... must be very painful.

The pain was so great that it was almost painful, but you have to accept that this is just part of the fate that comes with getting a tattoo.

The MRI was temporarily halted because of the pain she complained of, but actually, the MRI was continued.

I told you it hurts!

You devil! You bastard! You ogre!

Various angry voices would have been hurled at the radiologist. ......

No, no, don't worry.

In fact, it says that after the MRI resumed, the pain eased and became bearable.

The MRI was successfully completed, but the mild pain persisted for a good amount of time afterwards, and finally this pain subsided after 12 hours.

He had no after-effects whatsoever after that.

In other words, the pain in the tattoo area caused by this MRI is temporary.

As emphasized in the paper, this symptom is temporary.

Moreover, this football player has had MRIs four times before, and he has never had this symptom before.

In other words, this symptom is temporary and does not occur that frequently.

In a nutshell, the use of MRI on patients who are heavily tattooed is surprisingly not a problem.

(In this paper, that is.) So, everyone, please do your best to avoid using MRIs on your tattooed patients.

So, if you have a patient with tattoos and it is very difficult to make a diagnosis without the MRI information, you should not say, "I don't know what to do because I have tattoos.

"I have a tattoo, so what should I do? ......"

You may not have to worry about it.

If you explain to the patient that he or she may have a temporary burn-like condition, and if he or she agrees to have an MRI, you may be able to take the MRI.

Of course, there is no guarantee that it is safe, so you should definitely take pictures with caution, and of course, you should ask for instructions from a senior physician.

So, today, we talked about "MRI for Tattoo".

Thank you to everyone who has read this far.

I hope it has been of some help to you.

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