Is telephone follow-up useful in preventing post-extraction bleeding in patients on antithrombotic treatment?

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to investigate the usefulness of telephone follow-up in preventing post-extraction bleeding and improving wound healing in patients on chronic antithrombotic treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A prospective randomized clinical trial was carried out on 256 patients (test group = 128; control group = 128). The exact two-tailed Fisher test and the two-tailed non-parametric Mann-Whitney test were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The incidence of post-extraction bleeding was 15.6% and there was no difference between test and control groups. However, the study group was significantly, though weakly, associated with the severity of bleeding. Patient satisfaction with post-operative follow-up differed significantly between patients who had and those who did not have post-extraction bleeding. CONCLUSIONS: Telephone follow-up after tooth extraction may play a role in the prevention of severe post-operative bleeding as well as in monitoring and managing the surgical wound. Key words:Post-operative instructions, patient satisfaction, wound healing.