Are the histologic meningeal changes triggered by tattoo pigment after subarachnoid puncture of early onset?

• Grant number: 15/05468-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2015
• End date: November 30, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Surgery
• Principal Investigator: Eliana Marisa Ganem
• Grantee: Camila Camara Viviani dos Santos
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FMB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Since 1990, the habit of body tattooing has been taking as a cultural characteristic on different places in the world. The tattoo pigments may contain organic and inorganic compounds, metal and solvents. The implications of needling the tattooed skin to performing regional anesthesia on tattooed skin are poorly known and some authors have thought whether the pigment contained in the tattoo can trigger chemical arachnoiditis. Experimental study performed in rabbit determined that meningeal perivascular lymphocytic infiltrate occurs 6 months after spinal puncture on tattooed skin. The objective of this research is to evaluate if spinal puncture performed on the tattooed rabbit skin triggers early histological changes in the meninges. After the approval of the institutional ethics committee on animal use, 28 young adult rabbits, Grupo Genético de Botucatu breed, weighting between 3000 and 4500g and length of spine between 38 and 40 cm, provided by the vivarium of Botucatu Medical School, will be used in the study. The animals will be allocated in two groups (G): G1 spinal saline injection on tattooed skin; G2 spinal saline injection on no-tattooed skin. Under ketamine and xilaziana intravenous anesthesia the animals from G1 will be tattooed and, after a 30-day period, the spinal puncture, using ultrasound guidance, will be performed in the space between the first and second sacral vertebras. Quincke needle 22G 11/2 will be used to perform the puncture. G1 and G2 animals will receive 5¼L/cm of the spinal cord (measured space between the base of the skull and the lumbosacral area) (approximately 0.2 mL). Both groups will be evaluated clinically (sensory and motility) for a period of 30 days and, after it, all animals will be sacrificed. Lumbar and sacral portions of spinal cord will be harvested for histological examination under light microscopy.