Etiology and Treatment Outcome of Epistaxis at Medical College in Western UP-A Prospective Review of 52 Patients

Epistaxis is the most common emergency in ENT department affecting upto 66% of patients in their lifetime, with 6% requiring medical attention This study was conducted to describe the etiological profile and treatment outcome of epistaxis at Saraswathi institute of medical sciences in western UP.

This was the prospective descriptive study of the cases of epistaxis managed at ENT department of Saraswathi institute from April 2011 to September 2013.

A total of 54 patients with epistaxis were studied. Males were affected twice more than the females (2.7:1). Their mean age was 32.24 ± 12.54 years (range 4 to 82 years). The modal age group was 31–40 years. The commonest cause of epistaxis was trauma (30.8%) followed by idiopathic (26.9%) and hypertension (17.3%). Anterior nasal bleeding was noted in majority of the patients (88.7%). Non surgical measures such as observation alone (40.4%) and anterior nasal packing (38.5%) were the main intervention methods in 98.1% of cases. Surgical measures mainly intranasal tumor resection was carried out in 1.9% of cases. Complication rate was 3.8%. The overall mean of hospital stay was 7.2 ± 1.6 days (range 1 to 24 days). Five patients died giving a mortality rate of 4.8%.

Trauma from road traffic accidents remains the most common cause of epistaxis. Most cases were successfully managed with conservative (non-surgical) treatment alone and surgical intervention with its potential complications may not be necessary in most cases.