Eye Emergencies: Assessment and Management

Clinical Examination, Red Flags, Acute Red Eye, Eye Injury, Acute Visual Disturbance, Medications

Please note there is a new version of the course.

View 2025 CPD Courses

The course is an accredited learning activity for 8 hours for medical and nursing continuing professional development.

For GPs the course is an accredited CPD activity for the 2023-2025 triennium with ACRRM (Course Code: 33246: 2 Educational Activity and 6 Reviewing Performance Hours) and RACGP (Course Code: 827413: 2 Educational Activity and 6 Reviewing Performance Hours).

Whether you work in general practice or the emergency department eye emergencies are a common acute presentation. The causes may vary from minor eye irritation through to severe eye threatening disease or injury. Common presenting symptoms include visual impairment, ocular pain or discomfort, red eye, double vision or discharge. Fortunately most patients present with disease of injuries that are unlikely to seriously threaten vision. However there are a number of extremely serious eye conditions that if not recognised and treated early will lead to permanent serious impaired vision or blindness - it is these that we will focus on this course.

The course is divided into the the following topic areas :

• 1. Eye Examination and Red Flags for serious disease

• 2. Differential diagnosis and treatment of conditions presenting with red eye

• 3. Assessment and Management of Eye Injury

• 4. Differential diagnosis and management of Acute Visual Disturbance

• 5. Pharmacology of eye medications