Kiesselbach's plexus

Kiesselbach's plexus is an anastomosis of four or five arteries:

• the anterior ethmoidal artery, a branch of the ophthalmic artery, a branch of the internal carotid artery.Moore, Keith L. et al. (2014) Clinically Oriented Anatomy, 7th Ed, p.959{{Cite book|last=Drake|first=Richard L.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/55139039|title=Gray's anatomy for students|publisher=Elsevier / Churchill Livingstone|others=Wayne Vogl, Adam W. M. Mitchell, Henry Gray|year=2005|isbn=0-443-06612-4|location=Philadelphia|pages=978–979|language=en|oclc=55139039}}
• the sphenopalatine artery, a terminal branch of the maxillary artery, a branch of the external carotid artery
• the greater palatine artery, a branch of the maxillary artery, a branch of the external carotid artery.
• a septal branch of the superior labial artery, a branch of the facial artery, a branch of the external carotid artery.
• a posterior ethmoidal artery, a branch of the ophthalmic artery, a branch of the internal carotid artery. There is contention as whether this is truly part of Kiesselbach's plexus. Most sources quote that it is not part of the plexus, but rather one of the blood supplies for the nasal septum itself.

It runs vertically downwards just behind the columella, and crosses the floor of the nose. It joins the venous plexus on the lateral nasal wall.

Kiesselbach's plexus supplies blood to the nasal septum.

Ninety percent of nosebleeds (epistaxis) occur in Kiesselbach's plexus, whereas five to ten percent originate from Woodruff's plexus. It is exposed to the drying effect of inhaled air. It can also be damaged by trauma from a finger nail (nose picking), as it is fragile.{{Cite journal|last1=Morgan|first1=Daniel J.|last2=Kellerman|first2=Rick|date=1 March 2014|title=Epistaxis: Evaluation and Treatment|url=https://www.primarycare.theclinics.com/article/S0095-4543(13)00103-6/abstract|journal=Primary Care: Clinics in Office Practice|language=en|volume=41|issue=1|pages=63–73|doi=10.1016/j.pop.2013.10.007|pmid=24439881 |issn=0095-4543|doi-access=free}} It is the usual site for nosebleeds in children and young adults.{{cite journal|last=Doyle|first=DE|title=Anterior epistaxis: a new nasal tampon for fast, effective control.|journal=The Laryngoscope|date=Mar 1986|volume=96|issue=3|pages=279–81|pmid=3951304|doi=10.1288/00005537-198603000-00008 |s2cid=42072141 }}{{cite book|last1=Dhingra|title=Diseases of Ear,Nose and Throat|publisher=Elsevier}} A physician may use a nasal speculum to see that an anterior nosebleed comes from Kiesselbach's plexus.{{Cite journal|last1=Ando|first1=Yuji|last2=Iimura|first2=Jiro|last3=Arai|first3=Satoshi|last4=Arai|first4=Chiaki|last5=Komori|first5=Manabu|last6=Tsuyumu|first6=Matsusato|last7=Hama|first7=Takanori|last8=Shigeta|first8=Yasushi|last9=Hatano|first9=Atsushi|last10=Moriyama|first10=Hiroshi|date=February 2014|title=Risk factors for recurrent epistaxis: Importance of initial treatment|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0385814613001429|journal=Auris Nasus Larynx|language=en|volume=41|issue=1|pages=41–45|doi=10.1016/j.anl.2013.05.004|pmid=23791424 |issn=0385-8146|url-access=subscription}}

James Lawrence Little (1836–1885), an American surgeon, first described the area in detail in 1879. Little described the area as being "about half an inch ... from the lower edge of the middle of the column [septum]".{{Cite journal|title= A hitherto undescribed lesion as a cause of epistaxis, with four cases|last= Little|first= James Lawrence|journal= The Hospital Gazette|volume= 6|issue= 1|location= New York|year= 1879|pages= 5–6|url = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015079970920&view=1up&seq=11}}

Kiesselbach's plexus is named after Wilhelm Kiesselbach (1839–1902), a German otolaryngologist who published a paper on the area in 1884. The area may be called Little's area, Kiesselbach's area, or Kiesselbach's triangle.

A common mnemonic used to remember the arteries of the Kiesselbach's plexus is "Kiesselbach drives his Lexus with his LEGS" (superior Labial artery, anterior and posterior Ethmoid artery, Greater palatine artery, Sphenopalatine artery).

• Anatomical terms of location

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080511233337/http://www.utmb.edu/oto/Grand_Rounds_Earlier.dir/Epistaxis_1994.txt Epistaxis] - utmb.edu
• [http://www.emedicine.com/ent/topic6.htm Nose Anatomy] - emedicine.com
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20150115132402/http://www.fpnotebook.com/ent/exam/NslAntmy.htm Nasal Anatomy] - fpnotebook.com

{{Nose anatomy}}

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Category:Human anatomy

Category:Anatomy named for one who described it