The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 269 No 7209 p149
3 August 2002

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Nosebleeds following sildenafil use

Two cases of nosebleeds following the use of sildenafil (Viagra) for erectile dysfunction are reported in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine (2002;95:402).

Researchers from St George's Hospital, London, describe a case of a man in his late 50s who experienced several nosebleeds after taking 50mg sildenafil. On the day of admission to hospital, bleeding had continued for six hours without stopping and resulted in a six-day hospital stay.

A second case involved a man in his early 70s who had been admitted to hospital following a nosebleed lasting five hours. He had taken sildenafil that morning. Both men had a history of hypertension, a risk factor for heavy nosebleeds, but neither had needed to go to hospital with nosebleeds before.

The researchers comment: "There has been no obvious increase in [nosebleeds] since the introduction of sildenafil; this effect, however, might be under-reported because of the disinclination of most patients to discuss sexual matters in public, especially those relating to sexual dysfunction."

The researchers suggest that sildenafil could act at sites other than the penis, including parts of the nose, which contains erectile tissue.