Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: To determine the efficacy of 3–day versus 1–day topical gatifloxacin therapy in bacterial flora reduction in patients undergoing cataract surgery. Methods: A total of 50 patients participated in an evenly randomized prospective clinical trial. All patients received gatifloxacin 0.3% (Zymar®, Allergan. Inc. Irvine, CA) in the eye to receive surgery 1 hour prior to surgery as well as a standard 5% povidone iodine surgical prep. A subset of these patients (n = 25) received additional gatifloxacin 0.3% therapy for 3 days prior to surgery, and were considered to be in the study group. The other 25 patients that did not receive the 3–day dosing regimen were considered to be in the control group. Results: Thirty–two percent (8/25) of the patients (eyes) in the control (1–hour) group had positive conjunctival cultures when performed right before cataract surgery in comparison to 20 percent (5/25) in the study (3–day) group. In the time frame which immediately followed surgery, 20 percent (5/25) had positive cultures in the control group versus 12 percent (3/25) in the study group. Conclusions: Topical gatifloxacin 0.3% administration for 3–days prior to cataract surgery was more effective at conjunctival bacterial colony reduction in comparison to 1–hour pre–procedural administration. Three–day administration appears to be helpful at reducing the presence of bacteria in the operative field during the preoperative period.
Keywords: antibiotics/antifungals/antiparasitics • cataract • bacterial disease