[Successful treatment of a professional tattoo with the R20 method]

A 54-year-old man presented for the removal of a professional tattoo on the right upper arm. We initiated a comparative treatment with a q-switched 694-nm Ruby laser (TattooStar® Effect, Asclepion® Lasertechnologies, Jena, Germany, Spot: 4 mm, Fluence: 4 J/cm(2)) using the so-called R20-method. The tattoo was divided into three equal parts and was treated with up to three passes in one session at intervals of 20 min. After 3 sessions, which were conducted at intervals of 4 weeks, the areas that had been treated with multiple passes per session showed a significantly stronger fading compared to the area that had been treated with single passes. The patient reported a slight, transient blistering in the area that had been treated with three passes. Nevertheless, we did not observe any scarring or other irreversible complications. Our observation demonstrates the efficacy of the R20-method for the laser-removal of tattoos.