Often times I’m faced the dilema in a patient who wants a facelift or ANY Cosmetic Procedure but are on blood thinners like Plavix or Coumadin. I read an interesting study designed to answer the question; do patient’s on blood thinners experience a higher rate of complications following a face lift versus patient’s who do not. The study looked at over 9200 Surgical Procedures.
They looked at patients who received peri-operative anti coagulants such as Plavix or Coumadin versus those who received none. Patients on ASA had no ill effects while patients on coumadin did show some increased peri-operative bleeding and post op infection. However, serious complications such as flap necrosis or wound separation did not occur which would require a return to the operating room. But in my opinion if they can safely be discontinued before surgery than I think they probably should.
No comments:
Post a Comment