Do preoperative cutaneous bleeding time tests predict the outcome of intraoral surgical bleeding?

Purpose: To determine whether cutaneous bleeding time (BT) is related to perioperative bleeding outcome measures after tooth extraction. To determine whether this investigation is reliable to predict bleeding outcome after an intraoral surgical procedure.

Methods: A prospective clinical pilot study of 30 subjects. Cutaneous BT was evaluated before tooth extraction. After extraction, an oral BT was determined. Subjects were contacted 2-5 hours after extraction to assess further post operative bleeding.

Results: The mean cutaneous BT was 2.3 minutes (range 1.5-3.5). The mean oral BT was 9.1 (range 7-12). Cutaneous BT did not correlate with oral BT or any other measures of prospective bleeding. However, the time necessary for extraction correlated with extraction site bleeding 2-5 hours after surgery.

Conclusion: There was no relationship between cutaneous and oral post extraction BT. The use of BT test as a screening procedure is unnecessary for prediction of prolonged bleeding after tooth extraction or minor surgical procedures in the present situation.