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.