Saline-Based Nasal Spray Found to Be Effective for Epistaxis

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 7, 2016 (HealthDay News) — A simple saline-based nasal spray is as effective as medicated sprays in controlling epistaxis in patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), according to a study published in the Sept. 6 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The new study included 121 patients meeting the clinical criteria for HHT who sprayed either a saline solution or one of three medications — bevacizumab, estriol, or tranexamic acid — into their nose twice a day for 12 weeks.

The researchers found that the saline spray was as effective in reducing epistaxis as the drugs. “No drug proved to be any better than the saline placebo, but the majority of patients improved over the course of treatment — even those using saline,” study author Kevin Whitehead, M.D., an associate professor of internal medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City, said in a university news release. “This research highlights that there could be a benefit even in the simplest of interventions.”

HHT-related epistaxis is slightly different from common epistaxis. The use of saline spray for common epistaxis hasn’t been assessed, but would be easy to test, the researchers noted.

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