Cardiovascular monitoring and its consequences in oral surgery

OBJECTIVE: Higher life expectancy has lead to an increase of elderly patients in dental practices, thus also causing an increase in high-risk cardiovascular patients. STUDY DESIGN: In all, 3012 patients had oral surgery with local anesthesia at the Department of Oral Surgery, Oral Radiology and Oral Medicine at the University of Basel. The Colin BP 306 compact monitor was used during these surgeries. The patient's heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation were routinely checked, both before and during the procedure. RESULTS: The oral surgical procedure had to be discontinued 17 times, because the patient developed significantly elevated blood pressure. Twice, the procedure had to be discontinued due to cardiac arrhythmia. The average age of these 19 patients was 63.5 years. CONCLUSIONS: Pre-and intraoperative monitoring allows the dentist to identify patients with high-risk diagnostic findings and to reduce problematic cardiovascular situations.