[Digital compression as an immediate measure in intraoperative expulsive hemorrhage. Clinical consideraitons and...

Following a short discussion of the predisposing and precipitating factors of an expulsive hemorrhage prophylactic measures are suggested. The authors review critically the recommendation of a posterior sclerotomy as a form of treatment, as proposed in the literature. They prefer an immediate wound closure by means of the index finger as suggested by Kasner. In a simple model using eye bank eyes as well as rabbits eyes they were able to show that at intraocular tensions of 100 mm Hg digital wound closure could be successively replaced by single sutures resulting in a watertight suture without loss of eye contents. For reasons of safety, digital wound closure is recommended as an immediate measure even in merely suspicious cases.