A Member of DOCS Education has a question for the faculty:
I have a 21-year-old, female African American patient with sickle-cell anemia complicated by inflammatory bowel disease. The patient is currently on hydroxyurea, ursodiol, low-dose aspirin and folic acid. She receives prophylactic blood transfusions as needed to control her symptoms. Her MD has given me the green light to proceed with horizontally impacted surgical XB's. I have asked her to stop her aspirin seven days prior, and NSAID's three days prior to surgery. I wanted to know if there is any contraindication or problems I may encounter with oral sedation given her Hx and medications. Thank you 
Dr. Anthony Feck, DOCS Education faculty, responds:
Looking at your list, there are no medication interactions which would interfere with your appointment. In sedating patients with sickle-cell anemia it is very important that the patient is adequately oxygenated. The pulse oximeter may give you misleadingly high percentages. Therefore, keep your patient on 100 percent oxygen throughout the appointment, pay close attention to the airway and keep the patient’s sedation on the light side.
The information contained in this, or any case study post in Incisor should never be considered a proper replacement for necessary training and/or education regarding adult oral conscious sedation. Regulations regarding sedation vary by state. This is an educational and informational piece. DOCS Education accepts no liability whatsoever for any damages resulting from any direct or indirect recipient's use of or failure to use any of the information contained herein. DOCS Education would be happy to answer any questions or concerns mailed to us at 106 Lenora Street, Seattle, WA 98121. Please print a copy of this posting and include it with your question or request.
