Abstract
Objectives The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of a new
emergency department intervention for the management of epistaxis,
aiming to reduce epistaxis admissions. Design Tranexamic acid (TXA)
(500mg/ml) soaked NasoPore® packing was in the pathway for epistaxis
which did not terminate following 10 minutes of simple first aid. The
pathway was utilised for adult patients presenting with non-traumatic,
anterior epistaxis. Pre- and post-implementation admission rates and
re-attendance rates were recorded by retrospective audit at a large
central London hospital. Results Epistaxis admissions were reduced by
51.7% (p<0.05) following the implementation of the TXA-soaked
NasoPore® pathway. Conclusions The significant reduction in epistaxis
admissions demonstrates that this intervention is beneficial for patient
outcomes. This has the potential to be introduced in other A&E
departments and also pre-hospital settings.