Table of contents:
- Antibiotics to prevent complications after cataract surgery
- 1. Injected into the eye
- 2. Antibiotic eye drops before surgery
- 3. Taken before surgery
One of the most dreaded complications that occur after cataract surgery is endophthalmitis eye infection. Endoftalmitis can cause blurry vision to even blindness. This is where the use of antibiotics after surgery comes in to prevent these complications. What antibiotics are commonly used by doctors?
Antibiotics to prevent complications after cataract surgery
There are three most common ways doctors give antibiotics after cataract surgery, to prevent the risk of endophthalmitis. Here's the description:
1. Injected into the eye
Injecting medication directly into the front chamber (the space between the cornea and iris, which contains fluid) immediately after cataract surgery is a proven way to reduce the risk of eye infection. Antibiotic drugs commonly used in this method are:
- The cefalosporin group, such as cefuroxime and cefazoline. Both have a minimal risk of side effects.
- Vancomycin. An Australian study reports this drug can reduce the number of bacteria that cause eye infections up to 32 hours after surgery. Even so, vancomycin has a risk of side effects of edema in the macular area of the eye so it is not usually used as the first treatment to prevent infection after cataract surgery.
- The fourth generation of fluoroquinolones, moxifloxacin. Moxifloxacin works to kill gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria thus providing wider protection. The effectiveness of this drug in preventing infection is no different from cefuroxime.
In fact, there is another way of injecting it through the subconjuntiva (the outer layer of the eye that is clear in color). This method has been shown to greatly reduce the risk of infection. However, recent studies have shown that direct injection into the anterior chamber has been shown to be more effective in preventing infection, so subconjuntival injection has begun to be abandoned.
2. Antibiotic eye drops before surgery
Most of the infections that occur after cataract surgery are caused by microorganisms already living in the eye. So, antibiotic eye drops can be done before the operation is carried out to reduce as much bacteria in the eye as possible.
Some types of eye drops that are commonly used are:
- Gatifloxacin, the 4th generation fluoroquinolone group
- Levofloxacin, the 3rd generation fluoroquinolone group
- Ofloxacin (2nd generation of the fluoroquinolone group)
- Polymyxin or trimethoprim
Among the four drugs above, gatifloxacin can be absorbed more effectively into the eyeball so that it works faster to prevent the risk of infection.
3. Taken before surgery
There are no studies that have proven the effectiveness of oral antibiotics to prevent endophthalmitis eye infections. The reason is, the drugs taken must be digested in the digestive system first so that they are considered not very effective in quickly reaching the front chambers of the eye.
