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Treatment

The objectives of hyphema treatment involve containing the inflammation and removing the underlying causes which contribute to bleeding in the anterior chamber of the eye.

The common approaches to treatment are:

• Use of corticosteroids as eye drops or ointment to cure inflammation arising out of the bleeding
• Atropine eye drops to dilate the pupil, which minimizes sticking between the lens and the iris
• Initiation of appropriate treatment for ocular deficiencies like retinal abnormalities (i.e., dysplasia), glaucoma, etc.

Surgery may also be necessary for correcting traumatic injuries and lesions.

Your cat's activity will need to be restricted if the problem has been caused by a clotting disorder, since clots can quickly become fatal with movement of blood through the arteries. In addition, if hyphema has significantly damaged your cat's vision, the cat should not be allowed to go outside without close supervision. Regular monitoring of the fluid pressure within the eye is also very important - daily for severe diseases and in less severe cases, every two to three days until it clears up. To prevent further injury to the eye, your veterinarian can provide you with an Elizabethan collar, so that your cat cannot scratch at its eye.

Unless irreversible damage has been caused to the ocular structures, the prognosis is usually good in cases of eye trauma. If retinal detachment has occurred, secondary glaucoma will eventually develop, and surgical intervention may be necessary for the relief of pain.