Zouk Surgical

The recent article by Carol Ostrom reviews several topics in hip replacement surgery. I have to complement Ms. Ostrom with providing a fair and balanced approach to several different issues including incision length, different approaches (anterior, lateral, and posterior), and hip resurfacing. As she points out, there are pluses and minuses to each alternative and it should be noted that there was recent work presented from the Mayo Clinic, as noted in one of my previous blogs, comparing the two-incision approach to a single-incision posterior approach. In that particular study. The posterior approach led to less muscle damage and quicker recovery when compared to the two-incision approach. Having said that, surgeons that are skilled at the two-incision approach can achieve very good results. The pluses and minuses of hip resurfacing have been discussed in my previous blogs and again, I think that this remains a procedure with fewer indications now that total hip replacement can use large metal-on-metal heads to obtain the same benefits as hip resurfacing with a more familiar and durable procedure. Hopefully, other authors will follow the example of Ms. Ostrom and research their subject, pointing out the upside and downside of new technology and inventions so that the consumer/patient can be better informed and ask questions of their healthcare provider. 

Are you thinking about getting a tattoo in the near future? One in six tattoos are no longer desired. What if someone could offer you durable and removable ink? Or ink with a set life span? The number of inquiries I receive about tattoo removal has been going up. On the long list of technologies I would like to have at my disposal, somewhere near the top would be a skin eraser tool. Something that would allow me to smooth the color of the skin is needed badly. When it comes to tattoo removal a company named Freedom-2 may have the solution.

You may say, Dr. Mele, this technology already exists. We have creams to fade pigmentation, lasers to erase vascular changes and tattoos, dermabrasion to smooth contours, chemical peels and the list goes on. Well that is a sign of the problem. The reason there are so many choices is that there is no one single answer. No one modality will work all the time for all the people. This is part of the reason that Plastic Surgery training takes so long.

The options are always changing. Lasers have outshined the competition for tattoo removal, but I do not perform laser tattoo removal. I prefer techniques that are more predictable. If someone has a small tattoo, it can be excised. This leaves a scar, but it’s predictable. Different colors of ink require different lasers, and different people require different energy levels and precautions. The tattoo may be removed but the skin injured permanently in some cases, and this is not predictable.

If you or someone you know has tried to have a tattoo removed, you know that lasers are helpful, but not perfect. Even if the tattoo is only one color, it usually takes several treatments to fade. If there are multiple colors, the time and cost increases into the thousands of dollars.

So why am I blogging about laser tattoo removal if I don’t do it? Because that may all change soon. Not because there is a new and more expensive laser being produced in 2007 — though I am certain several will be available. The change comes in new ink, and it comes in two flavors. One flavor will allow one laser to remove the ink more predictably for less than twenty percent of the cost of current less effective laser treatments. The second is programmed to dissolve at a set time, without the need for a laser at all. Like henna with color options.

The ink is packaged inside small polymer sphere that can be made to self-destruct after being hit by a laser, or simply fade with time. Sound too good to be true? It may be. The technology has not seen widespread use and things happen when large groups of people are involved. The ink will cost about four times the price of the inks currently used, will only hit about a dozen tattoo parlors early in 2007. For more information check out Freedom-2’s web site at: http://www.freedom2ink.com/

Coming soon under New Technology — Liposuction Without Surgery.