MINI REVIEW: REVISITING THE KIESSELBACH’S TRIANGLE

Abstract

Epistaxis is spontaneous or induced bleeding of blood vessels in the nasal cavity. Sixty percent of people suffer from epistaxis in their lifetime occurring most in children and adults due to traumatic injuries and nasal cavity hemangiomas on the Kiesselbachs triangle. Kiesselbachs triangle/Little’s area is the inferior anterior quadrant part of the nasal septum just superior to the vestibule of nasal cavity. It’s formed by a network/vascular plexus of blood vessels that supply blood to the nasal septum and cavity. These vessels are braches of both internal carotid (anterior and posterior ethmoid arteries) and external carotid (spheno-palatine artery, greater palatine artery, superior labial artery) arterial systems. The mucosa lining epithelia over the plexus consists of proliferating to form columnar cells and mucus forming goblet cells. However this epithelium is too thin, Plexus forming blood vessels are large and the Plexus’ location at the nasal cavity’s subjects it to extremes of varying environmental conditions such as cold, heat, low and high moisture, eroding trauma putting it at high risk of epistaxis.