A new ligation approach to the management of chronic epistaxis

Abstract

Standard cauterization therapy for chronic epistaxis is less than ideal because of the inadequacy of topical anesthesia and the difficulty of treating young, often uncooperative patients. The author has developed a new procedure for treating these patients, which entails ligation and cauterization while the patient is under light general anesthesia in an outpatient surgical facility. Of the approximately 75 procedures the author has performed, only one failed to achieve expected results. This article describes how this safe, simple, and ultimately cost-effective procedure is performed.