Does low-dose aspirin therapy complicate oral surgical procedures?

Background. The fear of uncontrolled bleeding often prompts medical practit ioners to stop aspirin intake for seven to 10 days before any surgical proc edure. The authors initiated this study to evaluate the effect of aspirin o n bleeding in patients undergoing oral surgery. Methods. The study group consisted of 39 patients who were scheduled to und ergo dental extractions. AU patients were receiving 100 milligrams of aspir in daily on a regular basis. The authors randomly divided the patients into two groups: those who stopped the aspirin therapy before the procedure and those who continued the aspirin therapy. One hour before the procedures, a ll patients underwent a bleeding time test. In addition, the amount of blee ding during the procedure was measured. Results. The mean (+/- standard deviation) bleeding time was 1.8 +/- 0.47 m inutes for patients who stopped aspirin therapy one week before the procedu re. For patients who continued aspirin therapy, the bleeding time was 3.1 /- 0.65 minutes. The difference was statistically significant (P = .004). H owever, both groups were within the normal bleeding time range, and in both groups, a local hemostatic method was:sufficient to control bleeding. No e pisodes of uncontrolled intraoperative or postoperative bleeding were noted . Conclusion. Low-dose aspirin therapy should not be stopped before oral surg ery. Local hemostasis is sufficient to control bleeding. Clinical Implications. Patients receiving aspirin therapy to prevent blood dot formation may be subject to emboli formation if the treatment is stoppe d. The results of this study show that aspirin therapy should be continued throughout oral. surgical procedures. Local measures are sufficient to cont rol any bleeding during surgery.