Radiopaque filled Foley balloon in posterior epistaxis.

Abstract

SEVERE POSTERIOR EPISTAXIS (severe nasal bleeding originating from an unseen point) is a problem which has confronted almost every otolaryngologist at one time or another. These severe hemorrhages usually have a habit of arising at the most inopportune moments, generally at night, or when one has an engagement elsewhere. Most of the methods used to control this type of bleeding are uncomfortable and generally unsatisfying. Therefore, this situation is quite an ordeal for the patient as well as the physician. This paper relates our experiences with one method which we have found to be very satisfactory in dealing with this problem. The nasal blood supply has been studied very thoroughly by Burnham,¹Ogura and Senturia,²and Batson.³In this presentation, we can only mention in review, that the major arterial supply of the nose comes from the external carotid via the internal maxillary through its sphenopalatine branches;