بررسي علايم و علل خونريزي زير ملتحمه در مراجعين به كلينيك هاي چشم پزشكي دانشگاه علوم پزشكي شهيد صدوقي يزد

SIGNS & CAUSES OF SUBCONJUNCTIVAL HEMORRHAGE IN PATIENTS REFERRING TO THE OPHTHALMOLOGY CLINICS OF SHAHID SADOUGHI UNIVERSITY, YAZD

Introduction: Subconjunctival hemorrhage (SCH) is one of the complaints of patients referring to ophthalmology clinics. SCH can cause red eye and mild irritation, but usually does not have any symptoms. The most significant sign is SCH observation. The etiology of this problem is usually unknown or spontaneous. SCH starts suddenly and usually involves only one eye. The diagnosis is based on observation. Usually, there is no need for therapy and the best w ay is to reassure the patient. Aim: Evaluation of demography & causes of SCH in patients referring to eye clinics. Material and Methods: This study was descriptive, case- series type that evaluated 80 patients with SCH at the ophthalmology clinics of Shahi d Rahnemoon and Shahid Sadoughi Hospitals from Dec 2003 to March 2004. Data was collected by a questionnaire and analyzed by SPSS software and Chi -square test. Results: 80 patients were divided into two groups according to age (<30 years and > 30 years) an d each group included 40 patients. The mean age of the patients was 34.13 ±18.9 years (4-71 yeas), 34% of patients were female and 66% were male. The most common cause of SCH was trauma (50%). There was a significant relationship between the cause of hemorrhage and the age of patients (P.value=0.001). In the under 30 years age group, trauma was the most common cause of hemorrhage (70%), while in patients older than 30 years, spontaneous hemorrhage was more common (42.5%). There was no significant relationship between the cause of hemorrhage and the sex of patients (P.value=0.425). Trauma was the most common cause of hemorrhage in both sexes. In this study, 87.8% of the cases involved only one eye; 42.5% left eye and 36.3% right eye. The mean duration of the disease was 15.32±2.7 days (range 8-20 days). The majority of the hemorrhages were seen in the temporal area (86%). The most common cause of referral was observation of the hemorrhage by th e patient or others, which caused anxiety in the patients. Conclusion: Although SCH with normal visual acuity is benign, it could be a sign of a systemic disease and assuring the patient is the safest approach for treatment.