Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T04:45:12.262Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Hot water irrigation as treatment for intractable posterior epistaxis in an out-patient setting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2011

E Novoa*
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Kantonsspital Luzern, Lucerne, Switzerland
C Schlegel-Wagner
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Kantonsspital Luzern, Lucerne, Switzerland
*
Address for correspondence: Dr Eva Novoa, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Kantonsspital Luzern, 6000 Lucerne 16, Switzerland Fax: +41 041 205 4995 E-mail: eva.novoa@ksl.ch

Abstract

The management of intractable posterior epistaxis is challenging for any physician. Nasal packing, often combined with use of an endonasal balloon system, is painful for the patient, and torturous to maintain for two to three days. If conservative treatment fails, the most commonly used treatment options are currently invasive procedures such as endoscopic coagulation of bleeding arteries, external ligation and, rarely, embolisation. This paper describes a simple, non-invasive technique of treating posterior epistaxis with hot water irrigation. Technical information is presented, and the benefits of the method are discussed.

Type
Short Communications
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1Guice, NL. Hot water in epistaxis. Miss Valley Med Month 1884;4:34Google Scholar
2Hansen, TB. Hot water irrigation to obtain haemostasis [in Danish]. Bull Midwifes (Copenh) 1890;3:810Google Scholar
3Stangerup, SE, Dommerby, H, Lau, T. Hot-water irrigation as a treatment of posterior epistaxis. Rhinology 1996;34:1820Google ScholarPubMed
4Stangerup, SE, Dommerby, H, Siim, C, Kemp, L, Stage, J. New modification of hot-water irrigation in the treatment of posterior epistaxis. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 1999;125:686–90CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5Schlegel-Wagner, C, Siekmann, U, Linder, T. Non-invasive treatment of intractable posterior epistaxis with hot-water irrigation. Rhinology 2006;44:90–3Google ScholarPubMed
6Soyka, MB, Rufibach, K, Huber, A, Holzmann, D. Is severe epistaxis associated with acetylsalicylic acid intake? Laryngoscope 2010;120:200–7Google Scholar

Novoa supplementary movie

Movie 1

Download Novoa supplementary movie(Video)
Video 13.2 MB