Factors associated with active, refractory epistaxis

This study addresses the underlying causes responsible for the severity and persistence of active, refractory epistaxis. Seventy-five patients referred because of treatment failure by primary care physicians showed hypertension and aspirin and alcohol abuse to be major factors in the refractory nature of their epistaxis. The majority of bleeding was located near the posterior floor of the nasal cavity and just posterior to Kiesselbach's plexus and was only associated with septal deviation, spurring, or mucosal abnormalities in 16 of the 75 patients. Seventeen of 67 outpatients required hospitalization. Standard laboratory tests were often inadequate determinants of etiology. Intractable epistaxis should be a signal for a thorough investigation of factors that influence clotting.