Epistaxis and its Management in a Tertiary Health Facility in Nigeria:A need for thorough Evaluation

Epistaxis is one of the most common acute otorhinolaryngologic emergency disorders

To review the aetiological profile, management and outcome of epistaxis in a resource challenged environment in Nigeria Methods: A retrospective review of patients that were managed for epistaxis over a five year period

A total of 88 patients with an incidence of 18/1000 consisting of 53 males M:F ratio 1.5:1. The age ranged from 2- 68 years and age group 0-10 years was the most affected 29 (33%). Majority 73.9% presented during hot, dry season. Larger proportion (60.2%) was due to Idiopathic cause followed by trauma (11.4%). Over 47% has systemic illnesses that were incidentally discovered. Anterior nasal packing was the most common treatment modality in 46 (52.3%) patients. Thirty three (37.5%) patients were admitted either due to severe anaemia necessitating blood transfusion or due to underline medical condition. Eight (9.1%) patients had blood transfusion.

Epistaxis is a common otorhinolaryngologic emergency among the children and the young adult in Africa with highest prevalence during the dry season. A deliberate effort to find the cause of epistaxis is hereby advocated as poverty and ignorance usually prevent most of our patients with underlying medical condition to present until they are in critical emergency situation.