EPISTAXIS: CLINICAL REVIEW OF 176 PATIENTS

Objective: To carry out a retrospectively review and analyze the general data, incidence, etiological and clinical findings as well as treatment options for epistaxis patients. Patients and Methods: We reviewed the files of 176 patients with epistaxis who were treated at department of otolaryngology of the Royal Medical services of Jordan between 2017 and 2021. Data regarding Age, sex, concomitant medical disorders, medications, directly identifiable causes, epistaxis seasonal variation, and the type of management received were all recorded. Results: Epistaxis occurred in 0.52 percent of all cases and 3.2 percent of patients with nasal problems. The patients ages ranged from 5 to 85 years old, with a mean age of 43.3 years. The ratio of males to females is 1.5:1. Majority of patients (89.8%) presented with unilateral nasal bleeding and 10.2% with bilateral nasal bleeding. Intermittent nasal bleeding was recorded in 73%. In 63 cases (35.8%), the exact etiological cause couldnt be identified while in the rest of patients we could identify a causal factor infection (32.4%), hypertension (18.2%), trauma (6.8%), blood dyscrasias (2.8%), uremia (2.3%) and tumor (1.7%). Regarding the bleeding sites, more than 70% were from the anterior part of the nasal cavity. Regarding the modalities of treatment for epistaxis, anterior nasal packing being the most common technique 91 cases (51.7%) and conservative management in terms of anterior, posterior nasal packing and local cauterization of bleeding site was effective in majority of cases. Conclusion: Epistaxis is a common otolaryngologic emergency. To be able to undertake optimal care, otolaryngologists and general physicians should know the causes and features of patients and diseases, particularly in their own area of practice.