Abstract
Purpose: :
To Estimate the annual incidence of presumed endophthalmitis associated with intravitreal injections
Methods: :
Medicare 5% sample beneficiary data files for outpatient visits from 2000 to 2005 were analyzed to identify all intravitreal injections and subsequent cases of endophthalmitis after injection.
Results: :
The number of intravitreal injections identified using our protocol increased from 101 to 4,298 over the five year period. Incidence of endophthalmitis was 2% in 2000 compared to 0.5% in 2005.
Conclusions: :
The risk of endophthalmitis following intravitreal injection has decreased over the past 5 years. Given the benefit of recent intravitreal injections, the risk of infection is sufficiently low to justify a reasonable risk to benefit ratio.
Keywords: injection • endophthalmitis