Gingival bleeding, a possible "serious" adverse drug reaction: An observational study in the French PharmacoVigilance Database

Abstract

Introduction: Antithrombotic drugs are known to increase the risk of gingival bleeding because they affect coagulation. However, other drugs could also be involved in gingival bleeding.

Aim: We performed a pharmacoepidemiological study to identify the drugs most frequently "suspected" in the occurrence of gingival bleeding.

Material and methods: We selected reports of "gingival bleeding" from 1 January 1985 to 30 September 2014 in the French PharmacoVigilance Database.

Results: Among 523,808 reports of adverse drug reactions, we identified 454 reports of gingival bleeding (0.09%). Most of them were "serious" (58.4%) and occurred in females (54.6%). The frequency of gingival bleeding increased with age. The most frequently "suspected" drugs were antithrombotics (67.8%), particularly fluindione. Other drugs frequently involved were furosemide followed by paracetamol, amiodarone, amoxicillin, paroxetine, ketoprofen, zolpidem, enalapril and ramipril. Thirty-nine reports involved a drug-drug interaction with antithrombotics, mainly with anti-infectives.

Conclusion: Gingival bleeding can be an adverse drug reaction, often "serious" and rarely fatal. Patients older than 50 years and women are particularly at risk. Among drugs known to increase the risk of gingival bleeding, the most frequently involved were fluindione, furosemide, paracetamol, amiodarone, amoxicillin, paroxetine or ketoprofen. We also identified signal for drugs not usually known to be involved in bleeding, like zolpidem, enalapril or ramipril.

Keywords: adverse drug reactions; gingival bleeding; pharmacovigilance.