Research Article - Otolaryngology Online Journal (2016) Volume 6, Issue 1

Etiological profile and management of epistaxis in Makurdi, North-Central Nigeria: A six year retrospective study.

Background: Epistaxis or bleeding from the nose is a fairly common emergency presentation in otorhi-nolaryngological practice. This study is aimed at determining the etiological profile and management outcome of epistaxis in Makur-di, North-Central Nigeria.

Methods: This is a six year retrospective review of medical records of all patients with complaints of epi-staxis managed at the Ear, Nose and Throat clin-ics, accident and emergency (A&E) units, ward admissions and theatres of both the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, and Federal Medical Centre, in Makurdi between June 2009 and May 2015. Data retrieved included de-mographics, cause of epistaxis, associated medi-cal conditions, and drug medications, site of bleeding, treatment protocol and complica-tions.

 Results: A total of 92 patients presented with epistaxis out of 10526 that were attended to at the hospitals during the period under review. There were 3879 cases with nasal pathologies within the same peri-od. There were 60 males and 32 females giving a male-to-female ratio of 1.9:1. Their ages ranged from 6 to 73years with a mean of 22.5+-3.7years. Those most commonly affected were in 4th and 5th decades of life constituting 43.5%. Idiopathic pathologies were the commonest causes ac-counting for 27.2% followed by cardiovascular fac-tors (hypertension/ atherosclerosis) (25.0%), then trauma (21.7%). Nasal packing was the commonest procedure done which accounted for 65.2%.

Conclusion: In Makurdi, epistaxis is a significant nasal presenta-tion in the 4th and 5th decades of life with idio-pathic pathologies, cardiovascular factors and trauma being the commonest causes. Conservative method of treatment is still very effective in the control of

Author(s): Amali Adekwu , Francis A Ibiam , Barnabas A Eke , Itodo C Elachi , Gabriel A Ajogwu , Michael E Eifu , Temple A Otene

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