Nasal septal haematoma in Nigeria

A prospective study of 46 consecutive patients with nasal septal haematoma admitted at the General Hospital, Owerri, Nigeria over a five year period is presented. The disease was commoner in males than females. The majority of the cases (65.6 per cent) were of unknown cause and were therefore grouped as spontaneous haematoma while 30.4 per cent were due to trauma. Trauma was more common in patients below the age of 15 years while spontaneous haematoma was common in patients above that age. All the patients with septal haematoma represented 0.2 per cent of total attendances to the ENT clinic over the period. Most of the patients presented with severe and threatening symptoms necessitating intense aggressive management. All the patients were managed by surgical incision and drainage, four had marked nasal abnormalities. Three patients died from a brain abscess as a complication of infected haematoma.