Acute Red Eye
Also: conjunctivitis · painful red eye
The acute red eye spans benign conjunctivitis to sight-threatening conditions such as acute glaucoma, uveitis and keratitis. A structured assessment distinguishes those needing urgent ophthalmology review.
The relevant tools and pathways are gathered here.
Calculators & scores
- Intraocular Pressure Stratification & Glaucoma RiskGlaucoma
- Snellen Visual Acuity InterpretationOphthalmology
- LogMAR ⇄ Snellen Visual Acuity ConverterVisual Acuity
- Roper-Hall Classification of Chemical Ocular BurnsOcular Trauma
- Dua Classification of Chemical Ocular InjuriesOcular Trauma
- Traumatic Hyphaema GradingOcular Trauma
- HAP Glaucoma Staging (Hodapp-Anderson-Parrish)Glaucoma
- Primary Angle Closure Disease Spectrum (PACS / PAC / PACG)Glaucoma
- Central Corneal Thickness Correction for Goldmann IOPGlaucoma
Decision pathways
- Acute Red Eye / Vision Loss ScreenRCOphth 2020; NICE CKS
- RosaceaBAD 2017; NICE CKS
- Acute Red Eye AssessmentRCOphth / AAO
- Acute Angle Closure GlaucomaRCOphth / EGS Guidelines
- Anterior Uveitis (Iritis)RCOphth / SUN Criteria / EURETINA
- Corneal Foreign BodyRCOphth / AAO
- Behçet's DiseaseEULAR 2018; ISG 1990 criteria
Drugs
- Fusidic Acid 2% CreamTopical antibiotic (steroidal antibiotic)
- Prednisolone (Systemic)Systemic Corticosteroid — Acute Dermatoses
- Hydrocortisone with fusidic acidTopical mild steroid + antibacterial
- Betamethasone with fusidic acidPotent corticosteroid + antibacterial
- PrednisoloneGlucocorticoid (intermediate-acting)
- Prednisolone (Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss)Corticosteroid (systemic — SSNHL treatment)
- Aciclovir 800mg Tablets (Ramsay Hunt Syndrome / Herpes Zoster Oticus)Antiviral — nucleoside analogue (herpes zoster treatment)
- Chloramphenicol Ear DropsTopical Antibiotic — Otitis Externa
- Prednisolone (Oral — Nasal Polyp Reduction)Systemic Corticosteroid
- Prednisolone (Oral — General Medicine)Oral Corticosteroid
- AciclovirAntiviral
- Prednisolone (IBD / GI Use)Systemic Corticosteroid
Decision support only. These tools are aggregated by topic to aid navigation — always apply clinical judgement and the relevant national or local guideline.