CAN RED CELL DISTRUBITION WIDTH PREDICT SEVERITY OF EPISTHAXIS IN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT?

Objective: In this study, the frequency of risk factors for ephistaxis was tried to be revealed, and at the same time, it was questioned whether these risk factors had an effect on emergency ephistaxis management. Methods: Patients with epistaxis diagnostic code were scanned in the adult emergency department between 01/01/2017-01/01/2018 and the patient's name, age, sex, date of application, medical history, medication, vital findings, consultation information and laboratory findings were recorded. Results: A total of 108 patients, 68 male and 40 female, were included in the study. 70.4% (n: 76) of the patients were over 50 years old and the most frequent were 30.6% (n: 33) and 29.6% (n: 32) respectively in winter and spring. 46.3% (n: 50) patients had hypertension and 31.5% (n: 34) patients had bleeding due to drugs. 19.4% (n: 21) patients were referred to the consultation. There was a significant difference in terms of male sex and elevated red cell distrubition width (RDW) as a result of comparison between consulted patients and non-consulted patients (P values are 0.016 and 0.029 respectively). Conclusion: Elevated RDW and male sex appear as parameters determining the severity of epistaxis in emergency department. These parameters should also be taken into consideration in the approach of ephistaxis patients in emergency department