An update on eye pain for the neurologist

Pain in and around the eye with or without an associated headache is a common presenting complaint to the neurologist. Although the main causes for eye pain are easily diagnosed by simple examination techniques that are readily available to a neurologist, sometimes the etiology is not as obvious and may require a referral to an ophthalmologist. This article summarizes and updates our prior review in Neurologic Clinics on this topic and includes (1) ocular and orbital disorders that produce eye pain with a normal examination, (2) neurologic syndromes with predominantly ophthalmologic presentations, and (3) ophthalmologic presentations of selected headache syndromes.