Pattern of Epistaxis in Sokoto, Nigeria: a Review of 72 Cases

Background: Epistaxis remains a common otorhinolaryngological emergency in most hospital emergency departments with varied manifestations. The pattern as seen in a tertiary health institution in sokoto, Nigeria is the subject of this paper. Method: This is a 5year retrospective study (January 1995-December 1999) of all cases of epistaxis presenting at or referred to the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Department of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH) Sokoto, Nigeria whose data were analyzed. Results: A total number of 72 cases were seen with epistaxis out of 3,706 new cases seen at the ENT clinic. The incidence of epistaxis amongst UDUTH ENT patients was 19/1000.There were 45males(62.5%) and 27 Females(37.5%) with a male to female ratio of 1.7:1.Their ages ranged between 1and 70 years with the 0-10 age range recording the highest number (26.4%).The commonest cause of epistaxis was idiopathic(29.2%),followed by trauma(27.8%) and hypertension(18.0%).Non surgical methods(97.2%) such as observation alone (34.7%)without active intervention to arrest bleeding, and nasal packing(34.7%),being the commonest intervention measures used to actively arrest bleeding followed by cauterization of the bleeding points(11.1%) were the frequent treatment measures. Surgical extirpation was carried out in 2cases (2.8%) to arrest the epistaxis Conclusion: Although epistaxis is a common otorhinolaryngological emergency and varied in its manifestation, it affects mainly the young people (<30years {62.5%}) in this environment with idiopathic, trauma, and hypertension being the common causes which are amendable to treatment with excellent results.Contexte: L\u92\ue9pistaxis demeure une urgence otorhinolaryngologique commune des les services d\u92urgence de la plupart des h\uf4pitaux avec des manifestations vari\ue9es. Le mode de pr\ue9sentation observ\ue9 dans une structure de sant\ue9 tertiaire \ue0 Sokoto au Nigeria a fait l\u92objet de ce travail. M\ue9thode: Il s\u92agit d\u92une \ue9tude r\ue9trospective sur 5 ans (de janvier 1995 a d\ue9cembre 1999) de tous les cas d\u92\ue9pistaxis consultant ou adresses au service d\u92Otorhinolaryngologie (ORL) du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) d\u92Usmanu Dan Fodiyo de Sokoto dont les donn\ue9es ont \ue9t\ue9 analys\ue9es. R\ue9sultats: Au total 72 cas d\u92\ue9pistaxis sur 3 706 nouveaux cas ont \ue9t\ue9 enregistr\ue9s au service d\u92ORL. L\u92incidence de l\u92\ue9pistaxis parmi les patients du service d\u92ORL du CHU Usmanu Dan Fodiyo \ue9tait de 19/1000. Il y avait 45 hommes (62,5%) et 27 femmes (37,5%) avec un sexe ratio de 1,7 homme pour 1 femme. L\u92\ue2ge variait de 1 \ue0 70 ans avec un pic de fr\ue9quence pour la tranche d\u92\ue2ge de 0 \ue0 10 ans (26,4%). L\u92\ue9tiologie la plus fr\ue9quente d\u92\ue9pistaxis \ue9tait idiopathique (29,2%), suivie par les traumatismes (27,8%) and l\u92hypertension (18,0%). Les m\ue9thodes non chirurgicales (97,2%) telle que la mise en observation seule (34,7%) sans m\ue9thode d\u92arr\ueat du saignement, et le tamponnement nasal (34,7%) ont \ue9t\ue9 les moyens couramment mis en \u9cuvre pour arr\ueater le saignement. Elles ont \ue9t\ue9 suivies par la caut\ue9risation des zones h\ue9morragiques (11,1%). Un geste chirurgical a \ue9t\ue9 effectue dans 2 cas (2,8%) pour arr\ueater l\u92\ue9pistaxis. Conclusion: Quoique l\u92\ue9pistaxis soit une urgence ORL commune et de manifestations vari\ue9es, elle affecte surtout le sujet jeune (<30 ans {62,5%}) dans ce contexte. Les causes idiopathiques, les traumatismes et l\u92hypertension sont les causes les plus fr\ue9quentes accessibles au traitement avec d\u92excellents