A urgência oftalmológica: o que todo médico generalista deveria saber

Abstract

Emergency eye consultations range from visual discomfort such as: burning, itching, watery eyes and hyperemia, to sudden loss of vision. According to the WHO, about 55 milion eye injuries occur every year that resrict activities for at least one day. Often the first appointmet is made by non-ophthlmologists, which can damage the ocular prognosis due to the unpreparedness of theon-call staff. Thus, it is of fundamental importance that the general practitioner knows how to make the initial management of these patients to minimize the chance of more serious complications. Methodology: it is a narrative and exploratory bibliographic study, carried out through searches in online databases, by the combination of the descriptors “eye diseases”, “opthalmology” and “urgencies”, also in their respective terms in English, prioritizing articles over the past years. Results: cross-sectional studies indicate that in the vast majority of initial consultations, ophthalmologic emergencies are perfomed by non-specialists who are often unaware of some diagnoses and end up taking inappropiate conduct or awaiting evaluation by the specialist. Conclusion: for this reason, the need to establish continuing education in medical schools on the basic notions of ophthalmology becomes indisputable.