No abstract

Dental patients often give a medical history that suggests the possibility of a coagulopathy from drugs, with a corresponding risk for prolonged bleeding during and following an invasive procedure. Identification of patients who may be prone to oral bleeding requires specific medical history information and the proper use of laboratory tests. Some NSAIDs are reported to cause prolonged oral bleeding, but scientific evidence is lacking. Likewise, the risk of oral bleeding from anticoagulants such as warfarin is often over stated, and unnecessary adjustment of NSAID or warfarin dosage puts patients at risk for significant morbidity and mortality. Some commonly employed laboratory tests such as the prothrombin time provide helpful information when used in the appropriate setting, but others, such as the bleeding time test, provide little or no predictive value in the determination of patients at risk for oral bleeding. Dental management of patients with potential coagulopathies from medications requires an understanding of basic principles of coagulation. The vast majority of these patients can be managed in the community setting without risk and without alteration of anticoagulant drug regimes.

Background The WHO Surgical Safety Checklist has been implemented widely since its launch in 2008. It was introduced in Scotland as part of the Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP) between 2008 and 2010, and is now integral to surgical practice. Its influence on outcomes, when analysed at a population level, remains unclear. Methods This was a population cohort study. All admissions to any acute hospital in Scotland between 2000 and 2014 were included. Standardized differences were used to estimate the balance of demographics over time, after which interrupted time‐series (segmented regression) analyses were performed. Data were obtained from the Information Services Division, Scotland. Results There were 12 667 926 hospital admissions, of which 6 839 736 had a surgical procedure. Amongst the surgical cohort, the inpatient mortality rate in 2000 was 0·76 (95 per cent c.i. 0·68 to 0·84) per cent, and in 2014 it was 0·46 (0·42 to 0·50) per cent. The checklist was associated with a 36·6 (95 per cent c.i. –55·2 to –17·9) per cent relative reduction in mortality (P < 0·001). Mortality rates before implementation were decreasing by 0·003 (95 per cent c.i. –0·017 to +0·012) per cent per year; annual decreases of 0·069 (–0·092 to –0·046) per cent were seen during, and 0·019 (–0·038 to +0·001) per cent after, implementation. No such improvement trends were seen in the non‐surgical cohort over this time frame. Conclusion Since the implementation of the checklist, as part of an overall national safety strategy, there has been a reduction in perioperative mortality.

SummaryPatient-maintained sedation using propofol has recently been shown to be effective for dental surgery. We compared this new technique to the established technique of operator administered midazolam. The two groups were compared before, during and after sedation. The two primary outcomes were time until discharge and oxygen saturation. Vital signs, anxiety and psychomotor skills were also compared. State anxiety was reduced to a greater extent in the propofol group (mean difference 10 (SD 4) mm; p = 0.010. Propofol patients recovered quicker (mean difference 7 (SD 1.4) min; p = 0.001). Propofol patients had a smaller reduction in arterial oxygen saturation (mean difference 0.8 (SD 0.3)%; p = 0.030), and a reduced increase in heart rate (mean difference 9 (SD 2) beats.min -1 ; p < 0.001). Both techniques were well tolerated and safe. Propofol sedation offered superior anxiolysis, quicker recovery, less amnesia and less depression of simple psychomotor function.

Aims-To document the optic disc abnormalities in patients with frontonasal dysplasia in association with basal encephalocele. Methods-Names and hospital numbers of patients with midline clefts were obtained from the ophthalmology and genetics database. Six patients were identified who had the following common findings: midline facial cleft with midline cleft lip and palate; hypertelorism; absent corpus callosum; basal (sphenoethmoidal) encephalocele; and pituitary deficiency (five out of six cases). Ophthalmic examination was performed with fundal photography where possible. Results-Two patients had unilateral and one a bilateral peripapillary staphyloma. Two patients had bilateral optic disc hypoplasia and one appeared to have a peripapillary staphyloma in one eye and a morning glory disc in the other. Conclusion-Optic disc abnormalities were found in all patients with this constellation of clinical findings. This association appears to represent a distinct subgroup within the spectrum of frontonasal dysplasia. The presence of midline facial anomalies and any dysplastic disc should alert the physician as to the presence of an encephalocele. (Br J Ophthalmol 1998;82:290-293)