Department Blog

Posted 5/7/2025 by Eileen O'Brien

20 years of data on epistaxis treatment in the ED finds little benefit from routine ABX use

Associate Professors Laura J. Bontempo, MD, MEd, and Quincy Tran, MD, PhD, are among the authors of “Is antibiotic prophylaxis necessary for anterior epistaxis with packing? Insights from a large database,” published ahead of print March 19 in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine. The study analyzed 20 years of patient data from almost 100 large healthcare organizations and found "very little benefit of prophylactic antibiotics to most patients [who got nasal packing for epistaxis], while posing a potential risk to the overall population. Therefore, we recommend against the routine use of prophylactic antibiotics in clinical practice." The article will appear in the July 2025 issue of AJEM.