Traumatic hyphaema in Kaduna, Nigeria

In a 2-year prospective study of 76 patients with traumatic hyphaema seen at the Ahmadu Bello University Hospital, Kaduna, 75% were under 20 years of age. A low male to female ratio of 3 to 1 relative to other reports was noted. Hyphaema occurred in the left eye 1.6 times more often than in the right eye. Thrown objects, such as sticks and stones, caused hyphaema in the largest number of patients in the series. Only 34.2% of the patients reported for care within the first 24 hours of injury, while as many as 46.9% of them had total hyphaema. These factors are vastly different from most other reports. Of 62 patients with known final visual acuity 40 (64.5%) had vision of counting fingers at 1 m or less in the affected eyes. The final vision was worse as the level of hyphaema increased. Thus of 13 patients with vision of no perception of light, 8 (61.5%) had total hyphaema. The reasons for some of the differences from other reports are discussed and suggestions are offered as to ways of improving the visual outcome from the disease.