This site is intended for healthcare professionals

account_circleSign in
Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Referral for ophthalmology opinion

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

In general, red eyes presenting in primary care, are most often secondary to conjunctivits (infective or allergic). If there are any features suggestive of either iritis, acute glaucoma, a foreign body or any other significant cause of a red eye then immediate ophthalmological review is required.

Examples of when ophthalmological review is required include:

  • if there is impairment of visual acuity, or,
  • if there are abnormal pupillary reactions, or,
  • if conjunctival injection is most marked around the pupil (suggestive of keratitis, corneal ulcer or intraocular pathology), or,
  • if there is corneal ulceration, or,
  • if there is a history of possible penetrating injury, or,
  • if fundus is cloudy, or,
  • if there is associated significant pain rather than the 'gritty' discomfort associated with conjunctivitis, or,
  • if topical treatment for presumed conjunctivitis has not led to improvement

Create an account to add page annotations

Create a free account

Add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation, such as a web address or phone number. This information will always be displayed when you visit this page