Aspirin and recurrent hyphema after blunt ocular trauma.

Recurrent hyphema after traumatic blunt injury to the eye is associated with a more serious prognosis than that occurring from the initial trauma, resulting in a higher risk of glaucoma, corneal staining, surgical intervention, poor visual acuity, and enucleation. Risk factors associated with the development of recurrent bleeding are not well defined, but recent evidence suggests a high association with concurrent aspirin ingestion. Of 25 consecutive patients with hyphemas (20 males and five females, ranging in age from 2 to 53 years), 12 took aspirin after the initial trauma and seven had recurrent hyphemas. Platelet aggregation determinations in these seven patients showed defects associated with aspirin. Only one of 13 patients without aspirin intake had recurrent bleeding.