Pathogen Reduction Technology: A Novel Possibility for Inactivation of Blood Products Used in Oral and Periodontal Surgeries

Emergency surgical treatment has been challenging and the risk of blood contamination has been high, which is a concern among the medical and dental fraternity. The risk outweighs the benefits in these unprecedented times if proper screening and inactivation of blood products are not performed. Pathogen reduction technologies incorporate various modalities for the inactivation of blood products mainly related to blood transfusion. Oral surgical procedures and periodontal surgeries use platelet-rich fibrin for various regenerative procedures that amplify the prognosis positively. The use of blood products for various treatments could result in contamination, a factor which should be significant attention. The objective of this study was to review the role of pathogen reduction technology in inactivating pathogens in blood products and its use in oral and periodontal surgical procedures. The literature presented in the study is from original studies from a period of 2000 to 2020 which was sourced from Medline, PubMed, and Cochrane central databases. Relevant published papers and in-press papers that provided information were identified and selected. The studies presented have shown data related to implementation of pathogen reduction technologies in relation to the severe acute respiratory syndrome, Middle East respiratory syndrome, and its possible implementation in coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). The paper reviews the various technologies offered and the possibility to eradicate pathogens found in routine blood products, used in oral and periodontal surgical procedures. In all probability, the use of pathogen reduction technology might offer a ray of light to contain the spread among dental treatment procedures