INTRAOCULAR HEMORRHAGE IN CATARACT EXTRACTION

THE LITERATURE on intraocular hemorrhage associated with cataract extraction has been reviewed at length by various authors, and the possible causes of this complication have been widely discussed.¹The majority of the reports lack sufficient data to permit a statistical analysis of etiologic factors and adequate deduction of prophylactic measures. Therefore, we have reviewed the material which formed the basis of our former report²—i. e., 2,086 extractions of uncomplicated senile cataract performed at the Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute between November 1925 and October 1943—for any information it might yield on ocular hemorrhage. The results are analyzed statistically, and no factor is considered significant unless the probability of chance is less than 1 in 20 (p = 0.05). In the study of this problem, we have asked ourselves the following questions: 1. What factors in the patient's physical status or in the operative technic produce intraocular hemorrhage? 2. How may