Effectiveness of Hemcon Dental Dressing versus Conventional Method of Haemostasis in 40 Patients on Oral Antiplatelet Drugs.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the HemCon Dental Dressing (HDD) in controlling post extraction bleeding and to ascertain its role in healing of extraction wounds, as compared to control.

METHODS

The 40 participants in the study were all receiving oral antiplatelet therapy (OAT). A total of 80 extractions were conducted without altering the patients' drug therapy. The extraction sites were divided into 2 groups: one group received a HDD, and the control group where the conventional method of pressure pack with sterile gauze under biting pressure (followed by suturing if required) was used to achieve haemostasis.

RESULTS

All HemCon treated sites achieved haemostasis sooner (mean = 53 seconds) than the control sites (mean = 918 seconds) which was statistically significant (P <0.001). Postoperative pain in the HDD group (1.74) was also significantly lower than in the control group (5.26) (P <0.001). Approximately 72.5% of HDD-treated sites showed significantly better postoperative healing when compared to the control site (P <0.001).

CONCLUSION

HDD proved to be an excellent haemostatic agent that significantly shortened the bleeding time following dental extraction in patients on OAT. Additionally, HDD offered significantly improved post-operative healing of the extraction socket and less postoperative pain.