INTRODUCTION
Epistaxis is a mostly self-limiting condition that is common among
children and rarely severe (1). It occurs in 60% of the entire
population. Its frequency shows a bimodal distribution; it is more
common under 10 and over 50 years old. Thirty percent of children under
the age of five, 56% of children in the 6-10 age group, and 64% of
those aged 11-15 had at least one epistaxis attack (2). Since
spontaneous epistaxis is rare in children under two years of age,
underlying coagulation disorders or non-accidental injuries should be
considered (3-4).
There are many studies in the literature evaluating the causes and
treatments of epistaxis in children. Most of these include examinations
of specialties where patients are referred for further evaluation (5-8).
In other words, most of these patients are referred to these departments
due to the need for further evaluation in primary care or emergency
services. However, most of these patients present to the emergency
services due to the need for urgent medical intervention during or
immediately after the bleeding, and the number of studies evaluating the
cases who applied to the emergency department with epistaxis is very few
(1,9).
Many local such as digital trauma, sinusitis, rhinitis, mucosal dryness
caused by nasal polyp or septum deviation, and systemic causes such as
drugs, hypertension and coagulopathy are among the causes of epistaxis
(6-7). Although determining the etiology is important in planning and
following the treatment; etiology varies according to the age of the
patient and whether there is active bleeding (5,9). The majority of
epistaxis are controlled by simple methods such as spontaneous or local
compression. Few of them require advanced treatment methods (9,6).
In our study, we aimed to evaluate the incidence, demographic
characteristics, causes of bleeding and treatment methods of patients
admitted to the Pediatric Emergency Department (PED) with epistaxis, and
to determine in which cases a laboratory test should be used.