Causes of epistaxis in inpatients in the Kingdom of Bahrain

ABSTRACT

Epistaxis is a common symptom for patients to present with to the emergency and routine Ear, Nose and Throat [ENT] clinic, actually it is well known condition in the old literature described by Hippocrates in the fifth century BC[1]. The aim of this paper is to describe the causes of Epistaxis in inpatients presented to Salmaniya Medical Complex [SMC] from 1997-2001, and the different modalities of treatment. This is a retrospective study, in which 96 inpatients charts were reviewed during the above-mentioned period, the age of the patients, mode of presentation, associated symptoms; causes of Epistaxis and modality of treatment were reviewed and analyzed. The main causing factors of Epistaxis were found to be idiopathic in 23 patients [23.9%], hypertension was associated in 23 patients [23.9%], other causes like inflammatory diseases in 17 patients [17.7%], deviated nasal septum [DNS] in 14 patients [14.5], nasal trauma in 9 patients [9.3%], vascular causes in 6 patients [6.2%], and other causes in 4 patients [4.1%]. Patients who had Epistaxis with hypertension were not known hypertensive; half of them discovered to have hypertension after the attacks of Epistaxis and needed regular anti hypertensive treatment. From this study, the different causes of Epistaxis in Bahrain were identified, out of which a significant number of patients were found to have hypertension for the first time during the attack of Epistaxis, so screening patients for hypertension may help to detect hypertensive patients and treat them before they get attacks of severe Epistaxis in which they may need blood transfusion