Complications after oral surgery in patients with congenital or drug-induced bleeding disorders.

BACKGROUND Bleeding disorders (BD) can cause significant problems during or after surgical procedures of the oral cavity. The aim of this study was to explore the risk of bleeding following oral surgery in patients with BD. PATIENTS AND METHODS The medical records of all BD patients referred to the department of cranio- and maxillofacial surgery were reviewed. RESULTS Ninety-five patients (26 inherent BD, 69 taking antithrombotic drugs) were reviewed for this study. Interestingly, patients taking oral anticoagulants presented more bleeding complications than patients with inherent BD. During simple tooth extraction procedures, patients taking antithrombotic drugs had a higher risk of bleeding than patients with inherent BD. CONCLUSION The currently available treatment protocols for surgical treatment of dental patients with inherent BD suffice. However, our data indicates that there is still a need for clear guidelines for the treatment of patients taking antithrombotic drugs, especially phenprocoumon.