A Prospective Randomised Controlled Trial of Management of Recurrent Nosebleeds in Children

A Prospective Randomised Controlled Trial of Management of Recurrent Nosebleeds in Children: Antiseptic Cream Alone v's Antiseptic Cream With Nasal Cautery

To determine whether the selective application of a combined treatment regimen of silver nitrate cautery and 4 weeks of Naseptin cream is superior to naseptin treatment alone in the management of recurrent paediatric epistaxis.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Children aged 1 - 14
• History of repeated epistaxis with at least 1 episode in the previous 4 weeks prior to attending the ENT clinic.
• Presence of prominent vessels on the anterior nasal septum on the side that reportedly bleeds (or on at least one side if bleeding is reported to be bilateral)

Exclusion Criteria:

• No prominent vessels on examination (these children will be randomised but will be prescribed Naseptin alone and followed up in the same way as the children in the trial, for completeness of data)
• Known bleeding disorders.
• Allergy to peanuts, neomycin or chlorhexidine
• Other causes of nose bleeding eg tumour.