Traumatic Hyphema

Hyphema is the medical term for a condition in which blood accumulates in the eye. This is almost always the result of some traumatic episode, and is a very common birth injury among newborns. Depending on the degree of damage done, hyphemetic conditions can either resolve themselves, be successfully treated with medical intervention, or result in permanent visual impairment. Unfortunately, as newborns are especially prone to injury, hyphema can frequently land them with the last of these outcomes.

The sort of blunt trauma that leads to hyphema in infants is often caused by medical accidents involving assisted delivery. Forceps or vacuum devices used in delivery and other common procedures can do permanent damage to the anterior part of a child’s eye, or the front interior area from which fluids flow in and out.

Identifying hyphema in infants can be difficult, since most newborns keep their eyes mostly closed for a period of several days after delivery. Doctors should be able to recognize this sort of trauma, but it may easily be missed. The longer that this type of injury goes unnoticed, the more likely it is that the effects will be long-term.

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Hyphema in newborns can be an extremely serious and debilitating condition. If you suspect that medical error on the part of your health care provider may have been responsible for your child’s injury, you deserve to know your options. Contact the experienced team of Philadelphia hyphema lawyers at the law offices of Lowenthal and Abrams, P.C., toady at 215-238-1130 for more information.