Acute endophthalmitis after cataract surgery at a referral centre in Northern Taiwan: review of the causative organisms, antibiotic susceptibility, and clinical features

Abstract

Purposes: The aims of this study were to describe the bacterial isolates and treatment outcomes of endophthalmitis after cataract surgery at a referral centre in Northern Taiwan.

Methods: This was a retrospective, interventional, and observational series. Medical records were review of patients with clinical diagnosed, and/or culture-proven bacterial endophthalmitis at a tertiary referral centre in Northern Taiwan from January 2002 to December 2008. Treatment generally conformed to standard guidelines. Main outcome measurements were results of organism culture, antibiotic susceptibility of isolated bacteria, and visual acuity (VA) outcome.

Results: Thirty-four patients had positive cultures. A total of 55.9% of the culture-positive isolates were Gram negative and 44.1% were Gram positive. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most commonly isolated organism. Eighteen patients had final VA better than 5/200, and 41 had final VA worse than 5/200. In multiple linear regression analysis, female gender, presence of hypopyon, and worse baseline VA were significant independent predictors of worse visual outcome.

Conclusions: It was found that at a referral centre in Northern Taiwan, the majority of bacterial isolates were Gram negative in acute postoperative bacterial endophthalmitis after cataract surgery and P. aeruginosa was the most common bacterial isolate.