[Preoperative marking options]

In dermatosurgery, a large number of operations involve nonsterile preoperative marking and sterile intraoperative marking to define the surgical area. This includes marking of veins and sentinel lymph nodes as well as marking of borders of malignant or benign tumors. Ideally, the markings should be resistant to disinfectant without leaving a permanent tattoo on the skin. For this purpose, a variety of commercial and noncommercial, pre- as well as intraoperative color marking options are available, such as surgical color marking pens, xanthene dyes, autologous patient blood, or permanent markers. The permanent pen is suitable for preoperative marking. It is inexpensive and can be reused. Nonsterile surgical marking pens can also be used for this purpose, but they are more expensive to purchase. Patient blood, sterile surgical marking pens, and eosin are suitable for intraoperative marking. Eosin is inexpensive and has many advantages, such as good skin compatibility. The marking options presented are good alternatives to the use of expensive colored marking pens.