Antiplatelet drugs: a review of pharmacology and the perioperative management of patients in oral and maxillofacial surgery

INTRODUCTION An increasing number of patients are taking oral antiplatelet agents. As a result, there is an important patient safety concern in relation to the potential risk of bleeding complications following major oral and maxillofacial surgery. Surgeons are increasingly likely to be faced with a dilemma of either continuing antiplatelet therapy and risking serious haemorrhage or withholding therapy and risking fatal thromboembolic complications. While there are national recommendations for patients taking oral antiplatelet drugs undergoing invasive minor oral surgery, there are still no evidence-based guidelines for the management of these patients undergoing major oral and maxillofacial surgery. METHODS MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched to retrieve all relevant articles published to 31 December 2017. FINDINGS A brief outline of the commonly used antiplatelet agents including their pharmacology and therapeutic indications is discussed, together with the haemorrhagic and thromboembolic risks of continuing or altering the antiplatelet regimen in the perioperative period. Finally, a protocol for the management of oral and maxillofacial patients on antiplatelet agents is presented. CONCLUSIONS Most current evidence to guide decision making is based upon non-randomised observational studies, which attempts to provide the safest possible management of patients on antiplatelet therapy. Large randomised clinical trials are lacking.