A critically severe gingival bleeding following non‐surgical periodontal treatment in patients medicated with anti‐platelet

Abstract

Only a few dental procedures have been reported to cause life-threatening bleeding. All of these cases followed surgical intervention. In this paper, we report a case of severe bleeding following non-surgical periodontal procedures in a patient treated with a dual anti-platelet regimen post-coronary stent insertion. Her medical history included ischaemic heart disease, hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Haemostasis was achieved at the conclusion of the non-surgical periodontal treatment. However, several hours later, the patient arrived at the emergency room and was diagnosed with hypovolemic shock. This case should raise the clinician's awareness of bleeding complications in non-surgical procedures as well as the risk for bleeding when a dual anti-platelet regimen is administered. The importance of patient monitoring and the use of local haemostatic agents is demonstrated in these cases.