Woodruff plexus
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
Citation:
Solomon A, Glick Y, Moore C, et al. Woodruff plexus. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 25 Jan 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-67882
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rID:
67882
Article created:
1 May 2019,
Atyam Solomon
Disclosures:
At the time the article was created Atyam Solomon had no recorded disclosures.
View Atyam Solomon's current disclosures
Last revised:
Disclosures:
At the time the article was last revised Yaïr Glick had no recorded disclosures.
View Yaïr Glick's current disclosures
Revisions:
7 times, by
6 contributors -
see full revision history and disclosures
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Synonyms:
- Woodruff's plexus
- Woodruff area
Woodruff plexus is a venous plexus located in the posterior end of the inferior meatus on the lateral wall of the nasal cavity 1-3. It accounts for between 5-10% of epistaxis episodes. These bleeds do not respond to anterior nasal packing.
Despite George H. Woodruff's original description (1949) of the posterior nasal plexus as venous and subsequent verification thereof by cadaveric studies 1, it is described in many articles and textbooks as an arterial plexus, probably due to the multitude of arteries in that area and the fact that the anterior plexus (Kiesselbach's plexus) is arterial 3.
References
- 1. Chiu TW, Shaw-Dunn J, McGarry GW. Woodruff's plexus. (2008) The Journal of laryngology and otology. 122 (10): 1074-7. doi:10.1017/S002221510800176X - Pubmed
- 2. Dr. Dewey A. Christmas, Dr. Joseph P. Mirante, Dr. Eiji Yanagisawa. Endoscopic view of a Posterior Nasal and Nasopharyngeal Vascular Plexus:. (2018) Ear, Nose & Throat Journal. 97 (10-11): E51. doi:10.1177/0145561318097010-1106 - Pubmed
- 3. Morosanu C, Humphreys C, Egerton S, Tierney C. Woodruff’s Plexus—arterial or Venous? Surg Radiol Anat. 2021;44(1):169-81. doi:10.1007/s00276-021-02852-0 - Pubmed
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