Objective:

To identify the main reasons for the indication of the fundus of the eye as an emergency and its relevance.

Methods:

A descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out in the period from May 29 to December 1, 2018, with a sample of 59 patients from a study group of 67 cases with indication of urgent fundus of the eye to be carried out in the service of the Ophthalmology Emergency Room belonging to the Special Intensive Care Unit and in hospital wards of Professor Antonio Luaces Iraola General Hospital of Ciego de Ávila Province, Cuba.

Results:

28.8% of the fundus of the eye were ordered by internal medicine, followed by pediatrics and gynecobstetrics, each accounting for 20.3%. The most frequent personal pathological ocular history was ametropia and the glaucoma family. The most frequent systemic personal pathological history was arterial hypertension. The reasons that motivated its urgent indication, in order of frequency, were the syndrome of hypertension in pregnant women, the headache syndrome, the traumatic brain injury in postpartum women, the febrile syndrome, and the vertiginous syndrome. Only two patients showed signs of suspected glaucoma, without other alterations at the level of the optic papilla, and retinal posterior pole in the remaining cases.

Conclusions:

All the fundus of eyes carried out were negative for papiledema, a sign that presumably must be discarded, depending on the reason and the specialty that indicates it with urgency.

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