The .Plan

Some physicians are suggesting caution when it comes to performing epidurals on women with lower back tattoos.

Krzysztof Kuczkowski, chief of obstetric anesthesia at the University of California San Diego Medical Center, published an account in 2004 of a 34-year-old patient with tattoos covering her mid-lumbar area who received an epidural. Afterward she experienced unusual burning, tenderness and swelling where the epidural catheter had been placed. Dr. Kuczkowski believes the tattoo was the culprit. “It’s possible there’s a release of small particles that could contain metals or toxic compounds,” he says.
–Rachel Zimmerman, “Why Some Expectant Moms Are Worried About Tattoos”, Wall Street Journal, September 18, 2007

I have to admit that this possibility never occurred to me. When I was on the inpatient medicine and neurology services, it was a boon when a patient needing an LP happened to have a lower back tattoo. Figure out your landmarks, no need to X-marks-the-spot — voila, bullseye! (Came in really handy one day when I admitted a patient who for various reasons received 3 LP’s over the course of two weeks.)

Why is it important to be thoughtful? Because otherwise you look like a fool.

As a result, the march on Jena was a bit unfocused. It’s telling that the demonstrators moved between the courthouse where Bell was tried for an offense no one denies he committed and the site of the “white tree” that, with all-too-fitting symbolism, has since been cut down. “Free the Jena 6″ has become a rallying cry, perhaps because, “Stop Informal Segregation and Prosecutorial Overzealousness That Disproportionately Affects African-Americans Here and Elsewhere” won’t fit on T-shirt or a placard.
–Richard Ford, “The Wrong Poster Children”, Slate, September 24, 2007