Thrombocytopenia Management — ORE Part 1 MCQ

Correct answer: C — 50 × 10⁹/L

The correct answer is C, 50 × 10⁹/L. Current UK dental guidance advises that when platelet count is above 50 × 10⁹/L, routine platelet transfusion before dental surgery is not required, although appropriate local haemostatic measures should be used where indicated. A count of 160 × 10⁹/L is therefore satisfactory for a simple extraction in the stated clinical circumstances. At 30–50 × 10⁹/L, the dentist should liaise with the medical team regarding procedural timing and any need for haematological support; below 30 × 10⁹/L, such liaison is required before invasive treatment. A threshold of 100 × 10⁹/L is unnecessarily high and is not the current UK dental threshold. The 150 × 10⁹/L and 200 × 10⁹/L values are near-normal or supra-normal thresholds, while 25 × 10⁹/L is too low for independent routine management.

Reference: Faculty of Dental Surgery, Royal College of Surgeons of England. The oral and dental management of patients before, during and after cancer therapy, Table 4: abnormal blood counts, 2025. https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/-/media/Files/RCS/FDS/Publications/The-oral-and-dental-management-of-patients-before-during-and-after-cancer-therapy.pdf