Retinal hemorrhage is bleeding in the retina caused by broken blood vessels. It can be caused by physical trauma, diabetes, or high blood pressure. Treatment aims to diagnose and treat the underlying cause, and surgery may be necessary.
A retinal hemorrhage is the medical term given when the retina of the eye begins to bleed due to broken blood vessels. The retina is the light-sensitive part of the eye and is located at the back of the eye. There can be several potential causes of a retinal hemorrhage, including sudden physical trauma, diabetes, or high blood pressure. Symptoms may include blurred vision or other types of visual impairment, depending on the severity of the injury. Treatment is usually aimed at diagnosing and treating the original cause of the bleeding, although surgery is often needed.
Physical trauma is a common cause of retinal hemorrhage. This trauma typically results from a sudden head injury, such as can occur in an automobile accident or as a result of physical abuse. Retinal hemorrhage is especially common in children as a sign of shaken baby syndrome. There are often other types of head injuries present when the bleeding is the result of trauma. Some additional injuries may include skull fractures or brain damage.
Diabetes can lead to a condition known as diabetic retinopathy, which can cause retinal hemorrhage. Diabetic retinopathy causes damage to blood vessels in the eye, often leading to blocked or inflamed blood vessels, which are prone to bleeding. Often there are no obvious symptoms of diabetic retinopathy until a significant amount of vision loss has already occurred. Those who don’t manage their diabetes effectively are the most prone to developing diabetic retinopathy.
Hypertension, or high blood pressure, can lead to retinal hemorrhage in some cases due to a narrowing of blood vessels in the eye. This usually only occurs when high blood pressure has not been treated for a number of years. By receiving proper medical care and having high blood pressure controlled, retinal hemorrhage from this cause can often be prevented.
Most cases of retinal bleeding do not require any specific medical treatment. In these cases, the primary medical goal is treatment of the condition that originally caused the bleeding. Some patients may require minor surgery for retinal hemorrhage, which is usually done on an outpatient basis. If there is a significant buildup of blood within the eye, the eye fluids may be removed and replaced with a saline solution to improve vision quality. In other cases, laser surgery may be done to seal the bleeding blood vessels.
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