Surgical management of posterior epistaxis: a changing paradigm.

OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate that surgery, as the initial treatment option for posterior epistaxis, can provide comparable success and complication rates to nonsurgical management with fewer associated costs. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective chart review and cost analysis. METHODS: Two hundred three consecutive charts were reviewed for patient outcome, complications, and hospitalization time. Average costs were calculated from hospital department and physician fee schedules. RESULTS: Average success rate of all surgical procedures performed for posterior epistaxis was 90%, anterior-posterior packing success was 62%, and embolization success was 75%. The packing-only group had a significantly greater mean hospitalization time (5.29 d) than patients who were treated either surgically (2.1 d) or with embolization (2.6 d). The average per-patient admission charges were, for successful posterior packing, $5136 per patient; for surgical treatment, $3851 per patient; and for embolization, $5697 per patient. Surgery offered a cost savings of $1846 per patient over traditional packing. There was no significant difference in complication rates between the groups. CONCLUSION: The review suggests that a better success rate, a comparable complication rate, and a cost savings can be achieved with surgical intervention as the first-line treatment for intractable epistaxis when compared with traditional anterior-posterior packing and embolization.

Evaluation of selective lymph node sampling in the node-negative neck.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether intraoperative selective lymph node sampling before neck dissection in the node-negative (N0) neck accurately reflects the disease content of the neck and can be used to assist in treatment selection. STUDY DESIGN: A prospective clinical study at a university medical center. METHODS: Over a 2-year period, 36 patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma scheduled to undergo 41 elective neck dissections were enrolled. At the initiation of the neck dissection, biopsy of the "most suspicious" lymph node within the tumor's primary nodal drainage basin was performed, and the specimen was measured and sent for frozen-section evaluation. The results of lymph node sampling were compared with the final histopathologic interpretation of the resected primary and neck dissection. RESULTS: Of the 41 N0 necks, 29% (12 of 41) were positive for occult metastases. Results of selective lymph node biopsy correlated with the results of neck dissection in 34 of 41 specimens (83%). The specificity and positive predictive value of node sampling were both 100%. The proportion of cases with a positive neck dissection with a positive sampled node (sensitivity) was 42% (5 of 12). CONCLUSION: The results of selective lymph node biopsy with frozen-section analysis in the N0 neck, as defined in the current study, did not reflect a technique with adequate sensitivity to alter intraoperative treatment strategy.