Glanzmann thrombasthenia is a severe defect of platelet function caused by an inherited deficiency or dysfunction of the glycoprotein IIb/IIIa complex, the platelet fibrinogen receptor. Patients with Glanzmann thrombasthenia experience lifelong spontaneous and post-traumatic mucocutaneous bleeding diathesis. Surgery is usually very challenging, requiring close cooperation among surgeons, hematologists, and anesthesiologists. For anatomic reasons, oral surgery is particularly difficult owing to the inherent risk of hemorrhage and the difficulty in achieving local hemostasis. In the present report, we describe 3 successful cases of oral surgery in patients with Glanzmann thrombasthenia and report the surgical and hematologic management of each case.
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