Profound Bleeding after Dental Extractions during Dicumarol Therapy

Abstract

ANTICOAGULANT therapy, often maintained for months or years, is used widely in the management of actual or anticipated thromboembolic states. Drug-induced alteration of the clotting mechanism of the blood not only inhibits or retards beneficially intravascular coagulation but also creates simultaneously the hazard of hemorrhage. The hazard may be increased if the patient on such a regimen should undergo surgical intervention while prothrombic (or other coagulant) activity is reduced markedly. The potentially serious bleeding that occurred in 2 patients when dental extractions were performed during hypoprothrombinemia induced at therapeutic levels is the subject of this report.Case ReportsCase 1. . . .