Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose:To determine the efficacy of the self–preservative capability of Vigamox (moxifloxacin 0.5%, Alcon) against bacterial contamination after typical four times per day prophylactic usage in patients following cataract surgery. Design:Prospective non–randomized clinical trial Participants:A total of 40 bottles of Vigamox were distributed to 40 consecutive patients undergoing cataract surgery at Wishard Memorial Hospital in Indianapolis, IN. Main Outcome Measures: Detectable growth of bacteria. Methods:Five random bottles of Vigamox were cultured without patient usage as a control to verify the sterility of the product. Bottles of Vigamox were then given to forty consecutive patients for prophylactic use following cataract surgery. All patients followed the same dosing schedule of one drop four times per day for a total of seven days. The bottles were collected from patients after seven days of treatment. The bottles were then plated using split–plate methodology for growth on blood agar, chocolate agar and anaerobic blood agar (in that order). To avoid contamination, the bottles were inverted over the culture media, and two drops were squeezed from the bottle and were plated over one half of the culture plates. After the initial plating, ten drops were expressed from each bottle and discarded. Another plating of the remaining content was then performed onto the other half of same culture plates. The culture plates were then incubated at 37 degrees Celsius and were analyzed for any bacterial growth after three days. Results:No bacterial growth was detected on any of the culture plates. We found a 0% bacterial growth rate with a 95% exact confidence interval for the true proportion of 0–10.3% Conclusions:Our data suggests that Vigamox is efficacious as a self–preserving antibiotic for prophylactic usage following cataract surgery. With typical patient dosing at QID for 7 days, there was no recoverable bacterium from the Vigamox solution.
Keywords: cornea: clinical science • microbial pathogenesis: clinical studies