The Physiological Basis Of The Oral Surgical Management Of A Patient With Polycythemia Rubra Vera: A Pathway For The Development Of A Protocol

Various oral surgical procedures are currently performed under local anaesthesia and conscious sedation as a day surgery procedure. Both oral and intravenous conscious sedation are available as a choice. Oral sedation with Alprazolam and Codeine is very effective for most oral surgical procedures especially the removal of impacted third molars and surgical placement of implants. It is this sedation regimen that comprises the synergistic use of both aprazolam and codeine to effect sedation with amnesia that is the standard procedure at the Faculty of Dentistry of the International Postgraduate Medical College. The purpose of this case report is to appraise the possible negative effect of Alprazolam and Codeine sedation mentioned above on a patient who presented with polycythaemia rubra vera (a very rare haematological condition). This is because the codeine component of this combination will depress the respiratory centre in the medulla oblongata putting the patient at risk. The case study is that of a 70-Year-old male patient who had been a regular patient for approximately 10 years ago at the Faculty of Dentistry, International Postgraduate Medical College (IPMC), where a total upper denture and a partial lower denture were placed. The patient returned in 2019 with the chief complaint of halitosis and pain in the mandibular posterior right region. The patient gave past medical history of PRV, epilepsy and hypertension and history of being on multiple medications for these conditions. The treatment plan advised was total extraction of the remaining mandibular dentition and excisional biopsy of the suspicious lesion mesial to the mandibular right first molar, together with a complete lower denture replacement. The procedure was done without sedation and at no time was the patient considered to be in danger as it relates to oxygen saturation, carbon dioxide drive to the brain and bleeding. Every hematologist managing patients with PRV will be very concerned as to how these patients are managed by dentists, particularly as it relates to oxygen saturation, carbon dioxide drive to the brain and hemostasis. Similarly, most dental practitioners that are managing such patients may not be familiar with the technicalities surrounding the clinical and operative management of these patients. It is for this reason that this case report focusing on oral surgical management of a patient with PRV is of significance to the dental literature, particularly as it aims to develop a working group for the development of the protocol for the management of PRV.