Iatrogenic tattoo

An iatrogenic tattoo is a marking placed a physician or surgeon. It is typically done in the context of a lesion - such that the lesion can be easily re-identified at a later time.

General

• Iatrogenic tattoos are commonly seen in the context of polypectomy scars. Unfortunately, endoscopists are not good at documenting them; a study from 2021 found 67% of the time the location of the tattoo is not documented.
• In the colon, tattoos are most often distal to the feature of interest.

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Negative colon with tattoo and possible scar

The colonoscopy report notes that an iatrogenic tattoo was placed distal to the lesion. The possible scar corresponds to the location of concern.

See also

• Polypectomy scar.
• Tattoo.