Abstract
Eye pain is common. Around 2-5% of general practice patients
have an eye complaint featuring pain in and around the eye
(ocular, periocular, and periorbital pain, described here
collectively as eye pain).1 Among patients attending an
ophthalmic emergency department in New Zealand, more than
50% of new referrals were from general practices,2 with eye
pain being the most common symptom. The authors suggested
that referrals could be reduced with better initial diagnosis.
have an eye complaint featuring pain in and around the eye
(ocular, periocular, and periorbital pain, described here
collectively as eye pain).1 Among patients attending an
ophthalmic emergency department in New Zealand, more than
50% of new referrals were from general practices,2 with eye
pain being the most common symptom. The authors suggested
that referrals could be reduced with better initial diagnosis.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | h3216 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | BMJ |
| Volume | 351 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 4 Aug 2015 |
Bibliographical note
We acknowledge the important contributions of Professor Amada J Lee, University of Aberdeen, Division of Statistics, for assistance with analysing the data from the patient survey. We thank Kamran Khan, Oliver Chadwick, and Paul Chua, trainee ophthalmologists, NHS Grampian, for providing the clinical images.Contributors: LK contributed to the design of the study, the survey of patients, and writing the paper. JVF contributed to the design of the study and writing the paper. ADD contributed to the design of the study, the survey of the patients, and writing the paper. JVF is guarantor for the paper.