Factors related to the incidence of secondary haemorrhage in 462 patients with traumatic hyphema.

In a retrospective study of 462 in-patients with traumatic hyphema, secondary haemorrhage occurred in 8.7% of patients. A multivariate analysis demonstrated that the size of hyphaema on presentation and the presence of retinal damage did not affect the probability of secondary haemorrhage. The incidence of secondary haemorrhage was found to decrease by approximately half with the use of topical steroid (p = 0.005), but did not appear to be influenced by the use of cycloplegics. These data indicate in an unselected sequential population of patients, the therapeutic importance of topical steroid in the treatment of blunt ocular trauma.