Post-operative bleeding complications in a periodontitis patient testing positive for COVID-19: A case report

ABSTRACT

Background: Recent scientific evidence states that a subset of COVID-19 patients have a risk of increased bleeding tendency. This case report presents a 38-year-old woman with periodontitis, generalized stage III, grade C with an abnormal post-operative blood clot formation, who tested positive for COVID-19 5 days after a standard periodontal surgery. nature.com/articles/s41598-020-80010-z. Description of the procedure After initial periodontal treatment and re-evaluation, we proceeded to the surgical phase including 1. regenerative procedure with EMD 15 2. regenerative procedure with EMD 44 3. open flap debridement 13-23 4. shortened flap 34-37. Outcomes: Periodontal surgical procedures (1) and (2) proceeded without any complications and were considered standard. On day 1 after the third periodontal surgery (3), the patient was called for post-operative control. The patient had no complaints.On day 2 post-operative, the patient reported by email excess of bleeding in the oral cavity from the operated area, simultaneously with fever and loss of taste. A photo taken by the patient confirmed the abnormal blood clot. On day 3, in compliance with COVID-19 protocols, the patient was seen urgently in our clinic while her COVID-19 symptoms had started to decline. During the appointment, the bleeding tendency was less acute than the day before. Further suturing for precaution was decided. The same day the patient received a COVID-19 PCR test. On day 4 post-operative, the report of the PCR test was confirmatory for COVID-19 and the patient reported no further complaints of intraoral bleeding. Conclusions: After considering the normal response of the initial treatment and the well documented good post-operative healing pattern of the periodontal tissues for this patient, we concluded that the abnormal bleeding tendency was associated with an active phase of COVID-19. Clinicians should be aware that during the first days after a periodontal surgery patients could have bleeding complications due to an active phase of COVID-19. labblog.uofmhealth.org/lab-report/ subset-of-covid-19-patients-have-increased-bleeding-risk.