Ambulatory Oral Procedures on Low-Dose Aspirin
Ronen Gaspar, Leon Ardekian, Benyamin Brenner, Micha Peled, Dov Laufer
Dept. of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and Thrombosis and Hemostasis Unit, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa
Discontinuation of long-term, low-dose aspirin prior to ambulatory oral surgical procedures was assessed in a blind, controlled prospective study. 50 patients on low-dose aspirin who needed dental extractions, periodontal surgery, or other ambulatory oral surgery were randomly divided into test and control groups. The control patients stopped taking aspirin a week before operation, but in the test group aspirin was continued. Before, during and after surgery bleeding time was tested. Although bleeding time was significantly longer when aspirin was continued, in both groups it was within normal limits. Intraoperative hemorrhage was more frequent in those taking aspirin. Hemostasis control posed no problem and there were no postoperative complications in either group. It is concluded that discontinuing low-dose aspirin prior to elective oral surgery is not justified.