A Study of Susceptibility Patterns of Ocular Bacterial Flora to Topical Antibiotics in Patients Undergoing Anterior-Segment Intraocular Surgery

Endophthalmitis is an ocular inflammation resulting from the invasion of infectious agents into the posterior segment of the eye which may cause partial or complete loss of vision. The source of infecting microorganisms is often existing flora from the conjunctival surface. This prospective study was carried out to determine and study the susceptibility patterns of ocular bacterial flora to topical antibiotics in patients undergoing anterior-segment intraocular surgery, at Pt. B.D. Sharma, PGIMS, Rohtak, India. A total of 266 bacterial strains were isolated from two hundred and fifty patients undergoing anterior-segment intraocular surgery. Antimicrobial susceptibility using the modified Stokes disk diffusion technique showed that Grampositive organisms were the commonest isolates, followed by Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacilli. Gatifloxacin followed by amikacin provided the best broad-spectrum coverage of ocular bacterial flora. (J Infect Dis Antimicrob Agents 2008;25:73-9.)