Management of epistaxis associated with oral antithrombotic drugs in emergency department and impact on prescription thereafter

OBJECTIVES: To describe management, and to assess factors associated with antithrombotic prescription thereafter in patients who had epistaxis referred to emergency department (ED). DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. From EDs, clinical, biological and hospital data were collected. The clinical database was linked to the French Health Insurance Database where we retrieved antithrombotic drug deliveries in a 3-month period before and after referral. SETTING: Multicentric population-based cohort study within five well-defined areas. PARTICIPANTS: We considered 306 patients referred for epistaxis with a stable oral antithrombotic regimen before referral. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We considered management, hospital outcome and case fatality. Antithrombotic prescription in a 3-month follow-up period was categorised into three classes: no change, class change, or discontinuation. During follow-up, hospitalisation for epistaxis or ischaemic events was searched. RESULTS: Among 306 adult individuals (mean age: 76 years), 166 took oral anticoagulant and 140 an antiplatelet drug. Blood transfusion was needed in 13.7% of patients and anterior packing alone in 61%. Half of the patients were hospitalised; 301 were discharged alive. Considering antithrombotic prescription thereafter we observed no change in 219 patients (72.8%), class changes in 47 patients (15.6%) and discontinuation in 35 patients (11.6%). We identified four independent predictors for antithrombotic prescription: hospitalisation (vs. returning home, p = .05), age (p = .03), haemoglobin level (p = .03) and oral anticoagulant (vs. antiplatelet agent, p < .001). During the 3 months following discharge, 2 thrombotic and 15 bleeding events were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Epistaxis referred to emergency department had an impact on subsequent antithrombotic prescription. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Trials.gov identifier: NCT02886533.