Objective: In daily practice, the treatment of epistaxis is generally conservative. Surgical options, which are rarely used, also exist. However, a gold standard treatment option especially one that is easily applied without need for specialists has not been introduced. Topical agents are easy to apply and are widely used but success is moderate to low which demonstrates the requirement for new agents which can be applied easily. Sodium pentaborate pentahydrate (SPP) is a natural mineral which has drawn interest in the medical field do to its remarkable wound healing properties and is a primary ingredient of Dermobor gel. Our aim was to compare the results of topical SPP and oxytetracycline in the treatment of anterior epistaxis.
Material and Methods: A total of 66 patients with recurrent anterior epistaxis were included in the study which was performed at the Otorhinolaryngology Department of Gebze Central Hospital from December 2017 to February 2018. The age, sex, date of application, medications, chronic illnesses, the number of epistaxis events after treatment (first week) were recorded. Additionally, we recorded the pre- and post-treatment SNOT-22 scores and Kisselbach area measurement results of patients. Thirty-two patients received Dermobor gel and 34 received oxytetracycline treatment. Groups were similar in terms of age and sex.
Results: Dermobor gel and oxytetracycline treatments mostly showed similar results. However, the number of epistaxis events during the first week after treatment was significantly lower with Dermobor gel treatment.
Conclusion: Our results suggest that Dermobor gel may be used in the treatment of epistaxis with success similar to that of oxytetracycline. Furthermore, the number of epistaxis events during the first week after treatment was significantly lower in patients treated with Dermobor which is an important advantage.
Key words: Epistaxis, oxytetracycline, dermobor
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