Trends in dacryocystitis in China: A STROBE-compliant article

The aim of the study was to review the distribution, current trends, and microbiological characteristics of bacterial pathogens isolated from dacryocystitis patients in China during the last 15 years.This is a retrospective multiple-center noncomparative case series. The medical records of 15,452 consecutive patients from 7 cities diagnosed as having dacryocystitis between 2002 and 2016 were reviewed. The patients' demographics, microbiological data, and antibiotic sensitivity were reviewed and analyzed.A total of 3344 lacrimal sac content cultures were taken (21.6%) during the study period. A pathogen was identified in 1996 samples (59.7%), with bacterial isolates accounting for 1902 of the positive cultures (95.3%). Gram-positive isolates, gram-negative isolates, and anaerobic bacteria were found in 1218 (61.0%), 607 (30.4%), and 285 (14.3%) samples, respectively. An increase in gram-positive isolates over the study duration was found (P = .003). The predominant isolates were coagulase negative Staphylococci (485, 25.5%), Staphylococcus aureus (186, 9.8%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (184, 9.7%), and Haemophilus influenzae (152, 9.0%). There was a trend toward increasing resistance to erythromycin from 10.5% during the first 5 years of the study to 20.7% during the last 5 years (P < .001). Antimicrobial susceptibility testing showed that gatifloxacin was the most effective drug against most of gram-positive, gram-negative, and anaerobic bacteria.The microbial culture rate of dacryocystitis in China is low. There was an increase in the percentage of gram-positive bacteria over time. The sensitivity of gram-positive isolates to tested antibiotics is relatively low compared with that of gram-negative isolates. Our data show that the empiric use of fourth-generation fluoroquinolones in refractory dacryocystitis may be justified.