The Safety and Efficacy of Routine Administration of Intracameral Vancomycin during Cataract Surgery

Purpose. To evaluate the safety and efficacy of intracameral vancomycin during cataract surgery using a standardized dosage and delivery technique. Methods. The charts of 20,719 consecutive eyes that underwent phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation in a single ambulatory surgery center were retrospectively reviewed over a 5-year period. Results. The first 11,333 consecutive cases did not receive intracameral vancomycin, whereas the next 9,386 consecutive cases all received intracameral vancomycin. There were no significant differences in the baseline characteristics between the cohort of subjects who received intracameral vancomycin and the cohort of subjects that did not. There were a total of 11 subjects (0.97 cases per 1,000) that developed postoperative endophthalmitis in the group that did not receive intracameral vancomycin, whereas there were no cases of postoperative endophthalmitis in the group that received intracameral vancomycin (p = 0.0015). The overall rate of intraoperative and postoperative complications and the final postoperative visual acuities were similar among cohorts. There were no cases of toxic anterior segment syndrome occurring in either group during the study period. Conclusions. Routine administration of intracameral vancomycin during cataract surgery significantly decreased the incidence of postoperative endophthalmitis and was not associated with an increased incidence of postoperative adverse events.