Anticoagulation in dental surgery: Is it rude to interrupt?

doi:10.3949/ccjm.83a.15014 W i was growing up, my mother frequently told me that it was rude to interrupt. Although she was referring to conversations, she may have been onto something bigger. In the nearly three quarters of a century since their discovery, vitamin K antagonist anticoagulant drugs have been used by millions of patients to prevent heart attack and stroke. Before these patients undergo surgery, a decision to continue or interrupt anticoagulation must be made, weighing the risks of postsurgical hemorrhage with continuation of anticoagulation against the risks of stroke or other embolic complications with interruption of anticoagulation. Bleeding after dental surgery when anticoagulation is continued is rarely or never life-threatening. On the other hand, embolic complications of interrupting anticoagulation are almost always consequential and often lead to death or disability. Although consideration may be different for other types of surgery, there is no need to interrupt lifesaving anticoagulation for dental surgery.