Bilateral tri-arterial embolization for the treatment of epistaxis

Intractable epistaxis is treated by ipsilateral trans-arterial embolization of the internal maxillary artery, but there is 13-26% recurrence of bleeding. Preemptive embolization of both internal maxillary arteries along with the ipsilateral facial artery could provide maximal protection against recurrent epistaxis. We report our experience with 8 patients treated with bilateral tri-arterial embolization.

We performed a retrospective review of the patients who were treated with bilateral internal maxillary artery and ipsilateral facial artery embolization from January 2005 to January 2007. All patients had bleeding that was refractory to nasal packing.

Eight patients were treated with bilateral tri-arterial embolization. The median age was 65 years (range, 35-90 years). Risk factors included hypertension (n=4), smoking (n=2), alcohol (n=2), and use of anticoagulation (n=2). All but 2 of the patients were treated under local anesthesia. All patients had complete obliteration of bleeding during the procedure, with no residual vascular blush. No major peri- or post-procedural complications were noted. Patients stayed in the hospital for 2-4 days (average 2.6 days). One patient developed ipsilateral temporofacial pain which resolved during hospitalization. Another patient had minor recurrent epistaxis on post operative day 2 which resolved with temporary repacking and the patient was discharged the next day.

In our experience with 8 cases, bilateral internal maxillary artery and/or ipsilateral facial artery embolization was achieved without complication and was associated with complete obliteration of vascular blush and no significant recurrent epistaxis.