Purpose:

To determine the frequency of subconjunctival haemorrhage and the associated conditions in patients in the Tatvan-Bitlis region.

Material and Method:

A descriptive cross-sectional study including all 30 patients with traumatic and spontaneous subconjunctival haemorrhage examined in the ophthalmology clinics at Tatvan State Hospital between November 2008 and December 2009.

Result:

There were 30 (0.5%) patients with subconjunctival haemorrhage (30 eyes) among 6000 examined patients. Eighteen (60%) patients were women and 12 (40%) were men, with a mean age of 31.2±16.0 (2-75) years. Among the 30 patients, 14 (46.6%) had traumatic and 16 (53.4%) had spontaneous subconjunctival haemorrhage. The mean age was 35.5±12.4 and 26.4±17.9 years for patients with spontaneous and traumatic subconjunctival haemorrhage, respectively (p=0.04). The period of time between the beginning of subconjunctival haemorrhage and initial admittance to the hospital was shorter in cases with spontaneous subconjunctival haemorrhage (≤3 days, p=0.005). There were no statistically significant differences between the patients with spontaneous and traumatic subconjunctival haemorrhage with respect to gender (p=0.7) and eye involvement (p=0.6). The condition was unilateral in all patients. In spontaneous subconjunctival haemorrhage, no apparent associated condition was found in 31.2%. Hypertension (31.2%) was the most frequent associated condition; others included vomiting (18.7%), coughing (12.5%) and delivery (6.2%). In traumatic subconjunctival haemorrhage, 71.4% of injuries occurred at home.

Discussion:

In the Tatvan-Bitlis region, subconjunctival haemorrhage was seen in 0.5% of patients that presented to the hospital. The major risk factor for subconjunctival haemorrhage was trauma in young patients and hypertension - in older ones. (Turk J Ophthalmol 2011; 41: 90-3)

Keywords: Eye injuries, hypertension, subconjunctival haemorrhage, traumar