The effect of postoperative oral antibiotic therapy on the incidence of postoperative endophthalmitis after phacoemulsification surgery in dogs. 320 eyes (1997-2006)
Purpose. To assess the effectiveness of postoperative administration of oral antibiotics at reducing the incidence of endophthalmitis following phacoemulsification cataract extraction in dogs. Methods. Medical records of the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine were reviewed for cases having undergone phacoemulsification and divided according to whether or not they had received oral antibiotics postoperatively. Records were then evaluated for a diagnosis of endophthalmitis and incidence rates between the group receiving postoperative oral antibiotics and the group not receiving postoperative oral antibiotics were compared. Results. A total of 185 patients (320 eyes) were identified by the search. 113 patients (197 eyes) were treated with oral antibiotics postoperatively. 72 patients (123 eyes) were not treated with oral antibiotics postoperatively. Two cases of endophthalmitis were identified, with 1 in each group (P>0.05, Fisher’s exact test). Conclusions. The overall incidence of endophthalmitis in this study was 0.63%. The rate of postphacoemulsification endophthalmitis was unaffected by the postoperative administration of oral antibiotics.