Referral to emergency

If any of the following are present or suspected, please refer the patient to the emergency department (via ambulance if necessary) or seek emergent medical advice if in a remote region.

  • acute nasal fracture without other facial fractures

Please contact the on-call registrar to discuss your concerns prior to referral.

For clinical advice, please telephone the relevant metropolitan Local Health Network switchboard and ask to speak to the relevant specialty service.

If clinical advice is required urgently or out of hours, please contact Flinders Medical Centre or the Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

Northern Adelaide Local Health Network

Southern Adelaide Local Health Network

Women's and Children's Health Network

Inclusions

  • simple nasal fractures

Exclusions

Triage categories

Category 1 (appointment clinically indicated within 30 days)

  • acute nasal fracture without other facial fractures

Usually seen as a rapid assessment within 10 days of injury. Please contact the on-call registrar on call to discuss your concerns at time of referral.

Category 2 (appointment clinically indicated within 90 days)

  • nil

Category 3 (appointment clinically indicated within 365 days)

  • nil

For more on outpatient referrals, see the general referral information page.

Essential referral information

Completion required before first appointment to ensure patients are ready for care. Please indicate in the referral if the patient is unable to access mandatory tests or investigations as they incur a cost or are unavailable locally.

  • identifies as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander  
  • identify within your referral if you feel your patient is from a vulnerable population, under guardianship/out-of-home care arrangements and/or requires a third party to receive correspondence on their behalf
  • interpreter required
  • age
  • past medical/surgical history
  • current medications
  • allergies and sensitivities
  • onset, duration, and progression of symptoms
    • management history
    • symptoms and concerns
    • trauma/mechanism of injury
  • nasopharyngeal/sinus examination
    • exclusion of septal haematoma
  • neurological/cognitive assessment

Additional information to assist triage categorisation

  • relevant diagnostic/imaging reports including location of company and accession number

Clinical management advice

Women’s and Children's ear, nose and throat service only sees simple fractured nose as a rapid assessment within 10 days of injury. This service does not see facial fractures or complicated fractures.

Please note that nasal fracture referrals can be managed by the following specialist services:

Acute nasal fractures requiring surgical intervention such as external bone displacement, receive the best result within two weeks from time of injury.

Please utilise the relevant Aboriginal Liaison Units (ALU) to provide support to Aboriginal families.

Clinical resources

Consumer resources