Table 20-2. Aetiology of epistaxis

Local	Idiopathic
	Trauma – foreign bodies, nose-picking and nasal fractures
	Iatrogenic – surgery, intranasal steroids
	Neoplasm – nasal, paranasal sinus and nasopharyngeal tumours
General	Anticoagulants
	Coagulation disorders
	Hypertension
	Osler-Weber-Rendu syndrome (familial haemorrhagic telangiectasia)

Nose bleeds vary in severity from minor to life-threatening. Little’s area is a frequent site of nasal haemorrhage. First aid measures should be administered immediately, including compression of the anterior lower portion of the external nose, ice packs and leaning forward. The patient should be asked to avoid swallowing any blood running posteriorly. If the bleeding continues profusely then resuscitation in the form of intravenous access, fluid replacement or blood, and oxygen can be administered. If further intervention is necessary, consideration should be given to intranasal cautery of the bleeding vessel, or intranasal packing may be undertaken using a variety of commercially available nasal packs. In addition to direct treatment of the epistaxis, a cause and appropriate treatment of a cause should be sought (Table 20.2).

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website