Kiesselbach's plexus

The bones and cartilage of the nasal septum-- viewed from right side. Kiesselbach's plexus (not labelled) is the anterior part of the nasal septum where several arteries anastomose.

Kiesselbach's plexus, which lies in Kiesselbach's area, Kiesselbach's triangle, or Little's area, is a region in the anteroinferior part of the nasal septum where four arteries anastomose to form a vascular plexus. The arteries are:[1]

It runs vertically downwards just behind the columella, crosses the floor of the nose and joins venous plexus on the lateral nasal wall. It is a common site for bleeding in young people.[2]

Significance

Ninety percent of nosebleeds (epistaxis) occur in Kiesselbach's plexus, as it is exposed to the drying effect of inspiratory currents and to finger nail trauma and is the usual site for nosebleeds in children and young adults.[3][4]

History

Kiesselbach's plexus is named after Wilhelm Kiesselbach (1839–1902), a German otolaryngologist who published a paper on the area in 1884.

James L. Little, an American surgeon, first described the area in 1879. Little described the area as being "about half an inch .... from the lower edge of the middle of the column [septum]." [5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Moore, Keith L. et al. (2014) Clinically Oriented Anatomy, 7th Ed, p.959
  2. ↑ Dhingra. Diseases of Ear,Nose and Throat. Elsevier.
  3. ↑ Doyle, DE (Mar 1986). "Anterior epistaxis: a new nasal tampon for fast, effective control". The Laryngoscope. 96 (3): 279–81. doi:10.1288/00005537-198603000-00008. PMID 3951304.
  4. ↑ Nasal Anatomy at eMedicine
  5. ↑ Analysis of Epistaxis in Pregnancy, Little, J. L.: A hitherto undescribed lesion as a cause of epistaxis, with 4 cases, Hosp. Gaz., 6:5, March-Dec. 1879.
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