Epistaxis: a retrospective review of hospitalized patients

A 2-year retrospective study (August 1, 1992, to July 31, 1994) reviews medical records of 249 hospitalized epistaxis patients at seven Baltimore-area hospitals. This review represents the first multihospital study of patients hospitalized with epistaxis. The study evaluates multiple factors associated with epistaxis: demographics, underlying medical diseases, use of anticoagulation medication, site of epistaxis, and month of hospital admission. Blood transfusion requirement, hematocrit level, length of stay, treatment, and local/systemic complications are studied as well. The month of hospital admission was evenly distributed without a wintertime predominance, and the mean length of stay was 4 days. Treatment and outcome were similar in all hospitals, and more than 83% of patients responded to packing, balloon placement, local cautery, or a combination thereof. Of the 249 patients reviewed, 30 underwent surgical endoscopic cautery, 3 required formal surgical arterial ligation, and 1 underwent arterial embolization. All 30 endoscopic cauterizations successfully stopped the epistaxis, and this technique proved to be a useful adjunct for patients who required multiple interventions. The review identified a 3% complication rate of epistaxis and its treatment, including synechiae, aspiration, angina, myocardial infarction, and hypovolemia. No deaths were directly attributable to epistaxis or its treatment.