Abstract
Purpose :
To determine if using intracameral vancomycin is related to a lower incidence of endophthalmitis in cataract surgery.
Methods :
A retrospective study was conducted to determine the relationship between intracameral vancomycin and endophthalmitis in cataract surgery. Between 1998 and 2016, one surgeon performed a total of 30,649 cataract surgeries. During 1998 through 2011, the surgeon administered only topical antibiotic drops on 19,426 eyes for infection prophylaxis. From 2011-2016, the surgeon administered both topical antibiotics and intracameral vancomycin to 11,223 eyes. The incidence of post-operative endophthalmitis was then compared between the group that received only topical antibiotics and the group that received both topical antibiotics and intracameral vancomycin.
Results :
The incidence of endophthalmitis per 10,000 cataract surgeries when only using topical antibiotic drops was 4.63 between the years of 1998 and 2011. The incidence of endophthalmitis per 10,000 cataract surgeries when using both topical antibiotics and intracameral vancomycin was 0 between the years 2011-2016. The reduction in endophthalmitis by using intracameral vancomycin was statistically significant. The number of eyes needed to treat with intracameral vancomycin to prevent one case of endophthalmitis was 2,159, and the absolute risk reduction for 100,000 cataract surgeries would be 46 cases of endophthalmitis. Additionally, there were no reported complications from using vancomycin.
Conclusions :
The adoption of intracameral vancomycin coincided with an elimination of postoperative endophthalmitis.
This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.