Postoperative Endophthalmitis Following Cataract Surgery

Abstract

Experience with over 77,000 consecutive cataract extractions performed mainly by two surgeons over a 16-year period in a village hospital in Pakistan is reviewed. The incidence of immediate postoperative endophthalmitis is studied in some detail in 54,000 of these cases. In about 10,000 cases, prophylactic subconjunctival injections of antibiotics, such as framycetin, chloramphenicol, gentamicin sulfate, and penicillin sodium, were given. The incidence of immediate postoperative endophthalmitis was not notably reduced by these medications. Techniques and complications that added to the intraocular instrumentation were accompanied by an increased rate of endophthalmitis.