Stomatological management of anticoagulated patients undergoing oral surgery: a narrative review. [English translation-Original in Spanish]

Abstract

Patients undertaking oral anticoagulant treatment may experience alterations in different stages of hemostasis, which lead to medical/surgical implications and considerations during their care. Currently, there is no consensus regarding the dental management of these patients, as they go through surgical procedures. This leads to clinical protocols that follow numerous approaches, such as reducing the pharmacological intake of the anticoagulant, replacing it with heparin, and maintaining the controlled treatment. Objective: To establish the stomatological management of the patient undergoing oral anticoagulant treatment through an in-depth review of the literature. Materials and Method: A manual bibliographic review search of articles indexed to the PUBMED and EBSCO databases corresponding to the words “oral surgery”, “oral bleeding”, “anticoagulants” and “dental management” was performed. Regarding the inclusion criteria: bibliographic reviews, observational studies, clinical trials, guidelines, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses published between November 2005 and 2022, in English or Spanish, were considered. Conclusion: There are multiple protocols for the care of the anticoagulated patient who will undergo a minor oral surgery procedure. It is important to reflect on the anticoagulant used, the reason for it, its supervision, the surgical procedure that will be undertaken by the patient, and both intraoperative and postoperative hemostatic measures to be implemented. After analyzing the above, it is noted that reducing the intake of the drug to perform the surgical procedure may be harmful to the patient and to the clinician, therefore it is suggested to maintain the antithrombotic treatment and carry out a correct medical/surgical management.