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Background; epistaxis is one of the most common emergencies in otolaryngology. Although it is very prevalent in any population, it is rarely serious and may not require medical attention. It is usually managed with simple conservative measures. Only occasionally, when severe enough, it may pose threat to life, especially in the under developed countries, where resource poor centers have limited facilities required to control the bleeding. At KCMC the prevalence of this condition is not known. Also the different etiologies that lead to epistaxis and its management at the hospital have not been documented.
Objectives; to determine the prevalence, etiology and management of epistaxis among patients who attended the Ears, Nose and Throat (ENT) department from January 2010 to December 2015.
Methodology; this study was a retrospective cross sectional study of all patients who were diagnosed with epistaxis and managed at the ENT department at KCMC hospital from January 2010 to December 2015. Information of 117 patients was extracted from their files in medical records. The information was their social-demographic characteristics, etiology and management of epistaxis. A designed data collection sheet was used to record this information. This data was entered, cleaned and analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Frequency, proportion and percentages were used to describe categorical variables while measures of central tendency and their respective measures of dispersion were used to for the categorical variables. Data presentation was done using tables.
Results;
A total number of 117 patients’ files were available for the study. Patients of all ages were included. Of the total, there were 67(57.3%) males and 50 (42.7%) females. Most of the patients came from Kilimanjaro, 80 patients (68.4%) while there were 4 patients (3.4%) from Kenya. Students, 46 patients (39.3%) and farmers 42 patients (35.9%), were most affected by epistaxis. The prevalence of epistaxis was 0.5%, out of 24,935 patients who attended the ENT department for the past six years. The most common etiology of epistaxis was idiopathic, 60 patients (51.3%), then systemic factors, 30 patients (25.6%) and lastly the local factors, 27 patients (23.1%). Most patients were managed by the conservative method, 79 patients (67.5%) and 38
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patients (32.5%) were managed medically. There were no patients who were managed surgically or through arterial embolization.
Conclusion;
Epistaxis at KCMC is low as compared to previous studies from elsewhere. Students and farmers are the most affected group. Majority of the patients with epistaxis come from Kilimanjaro and Arusha regions. Most of the patients’ episodes of epistaxis were idiopathic and were successfully treated by conservative methods. |
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