Epistaxis recurrence.comparison between cauterization and nasal packing

Author: 
Víctor Román Sánchez-Balderas and María Fernández-Olvera

Background: Epistaxis is a common cause of medical attention, and the possibilities of recurrence are high although has received initial treatment. The objective of this study is to assess the relationship between recurrence of epistaxis and initial treatment with cauterization or nasal packing.
Methods: A retrospective case-control study, we registered demographic data, underlying disease, nosebleed localization, type of treatment, the epistaxis recurrence, the month when the patient presented the first epistaxis episode and the amount of bleeding. The initial treatment was classified like nasal packing and cauterization.
Results: We included 165 records of patients who had presented epistaxis. The average age was 38.04 (± of 22.7), 76 patients were male (46.1%). We found 34 patients with allergic rhinitis (20.6%); 13.3% had arterial hypertension, five patients had diabetes, there were 36 recurrences (21.8%), No relationship was found between the presence of recurrent epistaxis and the type of initial treatment of epistaxis by cauterization or nasal packing. The history of allergic rhinitis was related to epistaxis recurrence (p = <0.05), with an OR of 2.6.
Conclusions: There is no difference in the epistaxis recurrence if it is initially treated with nasal packing or cauterization of the nasal mucosa with silver nitrate. The only associated factor for the recurrence of epistaxis was allergic rhinitis.

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DOI: 
Víctor Román Sánchez-Balderas and María Fernández-Olvera
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Volume7