Epistaxis: A prospective study of its aetiology and management

Aim: to determine the clinical characteristics and management of epistaxis studied in our set up. methods: this descriptive prospective case series study was conducted at the department of ent,head & neck surgery,mardan medical complex,mardan from january 2013 to june 2013. after initial assessment all patients underwent a detailed history taking,through general examination,systemic examination and examination of ent and relevant investigations. after getting diagnosis all patients were treated conservatively initially and surgical intervention was considered only when conservative measures failed. results: a total of 55 cases were enrolled constituting 38 male and 17 female,with male: female ratio of 2.2:1. these patients presented in the age range of 10-70 years with mean age of 25.78±16.86 years. there was mild,moderate and severe epistaxis in descending frequency of 49.1%,29.1% and 21.81% respectively. there was significant difference between occurrence of epistaxis in male and female with p- value (<0.05). in this study 41.81% patients had anterior bleed and bleeding from right nasal cavity was observed in 29(52.72%). the commonest cause of epistaxis was idiopathic (18.18%) and majorities of patients (38.18%) were treated with anterior nasal packing successfully. conclusion: epistaxis affect commonly male in the middle age group. anterior epistaxis is more common. idiopathic epistaxis occurs widely and most of the cases can be successfully treated with anterior nasal packing.