title: [Surgical versus non-surgical treatment of posterior epistaxis].
abstract: A study was performed in order to compare the efficiency of surgical versus non-surgical treatment in patients hospitalized for epistaxis regarding the source of bleeding, and to identify failure-predicting factors related to specific treatments. 62 patients were included in the study, 36 (58%) of whom suffered from posterior epistaxis and 26 (42%) experienced anterior bleeding. The single factor associated with failure of the non-surgical treatment was the posterior source of the bleeding (p = 0.001). These patients were also hospitalized for a longer period (8, 17 days) than those with anterior epistaxis (4, 62 days) (p = 0.001). The percentage of success for the primary non-surgical treatment in patients with posterior epistaxis was 45% (14/31), significantly smaller (p = 0.0001) than the successful reached in the primary surgical procedure, 87% (13/15); endoscopic cauterization of the sphenopalatine artery. These results support endoscopic cauterization of the sphenopalatine artery as primary care in posterior epistaxis.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Otorrinolarinigología, Hospital Universitario Clínica San Rafael, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vergara Hernández
authors.forename: L E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Ordóñez Ordóñez
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002425:Cautery / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D004621:Embolization, Therapeutic / Q000379:methods*; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D004844:Epistaxis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010160:Palate, Soft; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013101:Sphenoid Sinus; D013630:Tampons, Surgical