Local causes of epistaxis

Local causes of epistaxis:

• chronic sinusitis (1)
• irritants (cigarette smoke) (1)
• medications (e.g. topical corticosteroids) (1)
• rhinitis
• trauma:
  • nose picking
  • foreign body
  • fracture of the nasal bones, skull or sinuses
  • nasal surgery
• nasal vessel degeneration
• septal deviation and perforation (1)
• vascular malformation (e.g. telangiectasia) (1)
• neoplastic:
  • polyp of the septum
  • carcinoma of the nose or sinuses usually causes a sero-sanguinous discharge rather than frank epistaxis
  • epistaxis, often unilateral, is a common presentation of a nasopharyngeal carcinoma
  • an angiofibroma is an uncommon cause of epistaxis in young boys
  • Wegener's granulomatosis

Reference:

• (1) Kucik CJ. Management of epistaxis. American Family Physician 2005; 71(2)