Halt ibuprofen before gum surgery

By April Clarkson, | Health | 0 Comments

A study shows that patients on ibuprofen are more likely to lose blood during surgery for gum disease.
Ibuprofen is a useful drug which can relieve the pain and inflammation of arthritis. But previous work has shown that it can increase blood loss during various kinds of surgery. A researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine reveal that people on ibuprofen lose twice as much blood during gum surgery.

In the study, 15 individuals underwent two surgical procedures for gum disease. They took a 400 milligram ibuprofen tablet at time intervals of nine hours, five hours and one hour prior to one of the procedures. The amount of blood loss was measured during each procedure. This showed twice the blood loss among those who were on ibuprofen. However, these patients did report less pain during the surgery. The findings suggest that it may be helpful to stop ibuprofen before gum surgery if there are concerns that a patient may be adversely affected by blood loss.