Epistaxis management - our point of view and literature review

Nasal haemorrhage or epistaxis is the most common otolaryngologic emergency. It affects about 60% of the population and a percentage of 6% do not cease spontaneously, medical approach being needed.

The management of epistaxis varies depending on its severity and etiology. The therapeutic conduct of this ENT emergency is based on three main principles: 1. local haemostasis; 2. detection and ceasing of the cause; 3. evaluation and correction of hypovolemia if necessary. Haemostasis can be done by chemical or electric cauterisation after identifying the bleeding source, by nasal packing, by endoscopic or external surgery or, in special cases, when none of the above methods returns any results, embolization. The current paper emphasizes our experience and a brief literature concerning epistaxis management in patients presented in the Emergency Room, in chronic cases of vascular intranasal tumors with recurrent bleeding, in iatrogenic haemorrhages, and none of the least we will bring into discussion the treatment applied for patients diagnosed with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia.