A prospective comparative study to assess the risk of postoperative bleeding after dental surgery while on medication with direct oral anticoagulants, antiplatelet agents, or vitamin K antagonists

Mayte Buchbender; Nicola Schlee; Marco R Kesting; Jannik Grimm; Jakob Fehlhofer; Andrea Rau

doi:10.1186/s12903-021-01868-7

A prospective comparative study to assess the risk of postoperative bleeding after dental surgery while on medication with direct oral anticoagulants, antiplatelet agents, or vitamin K antagonists

BMC Oral Health. 2021 Oct 7;21(1):504. doi: 10.1186/s12903-021-01868-7.

Authors

Mayte Buchbender¹, Nicola Schlee², Marco R Kesting², Jannik Grimm², Jakob Fehlhofer², Andrea Rau³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Glückstrasse 11, 91054, Erlangen, Germany. mayte.buchbender@uk-erlangen.de.
² Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Glückstrasse 11, 91054, Erlangen, Germany.
³ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Universitätsmedizin Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.

Abstract

Background: The aim of this prospective study was to investigate the occurrence and severity of postoperative bleeding following dentoalveolar surgery in patients with uninterrupted anticoagulation therapy (AT).

Methods: Patients receiving AT (vitamin k antagonist (VK), direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) or antiplatelet therapy (APT) and in need of surgical intervention classified as A, B or C (single or serial tooth extraction, osteotomy, or implant placement) were studied between 2019 and 2021. A healthy, non-anticoagulated cohort (CG) served as a control group. The main outcomes measured were the frequency of postoperative bleeding, the classification of the severity of postoperative bleeding (1a, 1b, 1c, 2, 3), and the correlation with the AT surgical intervention classification.

Results: In total, 195 patients were included in the study, with 95 patients in the AT group and 100 in the CG. Postoperative bleeding was significant in the AT group vs. the CG (p = 0.000), with a significant correlation with surgical intervention class C (p = 0.013) and the severity class of bleeding 1a (p = 0.044). There was no significant correlation with procedures of type A, B or C for the other postoperative bleeding gradations (1b, 1c, 2 and 3). There was a statistically significant difference in the occurrence of postoperative bleeding events between the DOAC/APT group and the VK group (p = 0.036), but there were no significant differences regarding the other AT agents.

Conclusion: The continuation of anticoagulation therapy for surgical interventions also seems reasonable for high-risk interventions. Although significantly more postoperative bleeding occurs, the severity of bleeding is low. The perioperative management of anticoagulated patients requires well-coordinated interdisciplinary teamwork and detailed instruction of patients. Clinical trial registration The study is registered (29.03.2021) at the German clinical trial registry (DRKS00024889).

Keywords: Anticoagulant agents; Direct-acting oral anticoagulants; Hematological agents; Oral hemorrhages; Oral surgical procedures; Postoperative hemorrhages.

MeSH terms

Administration, Oral
Anticoagulants* / adverse effects
Humans
Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors* / adverse effects
Postoperative Hemorrhage / chemically induced
Postoperative Hemorrhage / drug therapy
Postoperative Hemorrhage / epidemiology
Prospective Studies
Vitamin K

Substances

Anticoagulants
Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors
Vitamin K