Ear, nose & throat · UKMLA & AKT
Epistaxis
A free high-yield preview for the UKMLA Applied Knowledge Test, covering how to recognise this condition. The full SA Note notes add investigations, management and complications, with practice questions on this topic.
Key high-yield points
- Little's area (Kiesselbach's plexus) - anteromedial nasal septum; source of ~95% of nosebleeds
- Fed by four arteries: anterior ethmoid, sphenopalatine, greater palatine, superior labial
- Mucosa here is thin, highly vascular, and exposed to trauma/turbulent airflow - explains why bleeding can be brisk
- Posterior epistaxis - less common; suggested by bilateral or oral bleeding; associated with atherosclerosis and anticoagulation in older patients
Anterior nasal septum (Little's area) is the most likely source in the vast majority of epistaxis cases - including in anticoagulated patients without nasal pathology.
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