A retrospective study of the visual outcome of 425 in-patients with traumatic hyphaema has been conducted. A multivariate analysis demonstrated that after adjusting for age, sex and pre-existing poor vision, the size of hyphaema on presentation and the presence of retinal damage were significant predictors of a worse final visual outcome (p = 0.00003 and 0.00001 respectively). Topical steroid and/or cycloplegic medication, and the occurrence of secondary haemorrhage did not influence the final visual outcome after adjustment for the other variables. These data illustrate, in an unselected sequential population of patients, the role of these factors in terms of final visual outcome following hyphaema from blunt ocular trauma.