Eye Emergencies
There are three levels of eye emergencies:
1. true emergencies that require immediate treatment within seconds or minutes
2. urgent situations requiring diagnosis and treatment within 1 to several
hours
3. semiurgent situations that call for treatment within days or weeks
What is the information for this topic?
It's important to seek appropriate and timely treatment for eye
problems to avoid visual impairments. True
emergencies must be treated within minutes. There are really only two
true emergencies of the eye:
chemical burns, which occur when caustic solutions are splashed into the
eye
retinal artery occlusion, which causes sudden painless loss of vision in
one eye when the main artery to the retina is blocked
Urgent situations require therapy to be
started within hours. Some examples include:
acute glaucoma,
which is a sudden rise in pressure in the eyeball that causes pain and
decreased vision
cellulitis, an infection of the eye socket that causes pain and
swelling
corneal abrasions, or
scratches on the cornea, often caused by a foreign body
corneal ulcers, which are small painful sores on the cornea
endophthalmitis, an infection inside the eye that causes sudden
severe eye pain and visual
impairment
hyphema, or bleeding in the front chamber of the eye caused by
blunt trauma
iritis, an inflammation of the iris that causes acute eye pain, redness,
and sensitivity to light
lid lacerations, or cuts on the upper or lower eyelid
penetrating injury of the eyeball by a foreign body
retinal detachments and
tears, which cause a sudden onset of flashing lights or floaters and a shadow
over part of the field of vision
Semiurgent situations require therapy to be started
within days or a few weeks. Some examples include:
exophthalmos, or a bulging of the eyeball with an appearance of staring
fractures of the facial bones that involve the eye socket
muscle imbalances in the eye
optic
neuritis, an inflammation of the optic nerve that causes sudden
blurring and/or dimming of vision in one or both eyes
tumors of the eye, optic nerve, or orbit
|
Set Homepage
Email Page
Favorites
