This article is only available in the PDF format. Download the PDF to view the article, as well as its associated figures and tables.
The Effect of Tattooing with Mercury Sulfide Cinnabar on Pruritus Ani. Presented by Dr. Marion B. Sulzberger.
Case 1.—
L. B., a man aged 43, has suffered from pruritus ani since June 1935. He has been treated with various local remedies, sedatives and roentgen rays, having received nine ¼ skin unit (75 roentgen doses) in 1935, seven in 1936 and six in 1937, without obtaining relief. He was also treated for tinea of the crural region and interdigital scaling on the feet during 1935 and 1936. Proctoscopic study did not reveal any pathologic findings. Examinations of the stools for ova gave negative results. In 1938 the patient received nine subcutaneous perianal injections of benacol (a local anesthetic containing paraaminobenzoyl ethanol benzoate and benzyl alcohol). The first injection caused improvement lasting six weeks, but the duration of improvement decreased as the number of injections increased.Tattooing with mercuric sulfide cinnabar was