Incidence of Drug Use-Related Endogenous Endophthalmitis Hospitalizations in the United States, 2003 to 2016

Complications arising from the nationwide opioid epidemic led to an increase in health care use. Few studies have investigated whether this is reflected in hospital admissions for endogenous endophthalmitis.

To report changing trends in epidemiology, risk factors, hospital course, and costs associated with drug use-related endogenous endophthalmitis hospitalizations in the United States from 2003 to 2016.

Nationwide, retrospective cross-sectional study using the National Inpatient Sample. A total of 56 839 patients admitted with a diagnosis of endogenous endophthalmitis were included. Data were analyzed between 2003 and 2016.

Inpatient admission for endogenous endophthalmitis during the years 2003 to 2016.

The Nationwide Inpatient Sample was queried to identify all inpatient admissions with a diagnosis of endogenous endophthalmitis in the United States between the years 2003 and 2016. Analyses were performed to identify national and regional trends in incidence and prevalence of associated infectious and noninfectious comorbidities in patients with or without a history of drug dependence or use. Median and cumulative inflation-adjusted costs for admissions were calculated.

Of all patients, 55.6% were White, 13.6% were Black, and 10.6% were Hispanic. There were an estimated 56 839 endogenous endophthalmitis-related hospitalizations; 13.7% of these patients (n = 7783) had a history of drug dependence or use. The drug-using population was significantly younger (49.6 vs 57.5 years; difference, 7.9; 95% CI, 6.93-8.88; P < .001) and more likely to be male (61.8% [n = 35 127] vs 49.0% [n = 21 712]; difference, 12.8%; 95% CI, 11.6%-14.0%; P < .001). The incidence of endogenous endophthalmitis associated with drug dependence or use increased from 0.08 per 100 000 in 2003 to 0.32 per 100 000 population in 2016 across all 4 US geographic regions.

A 4-fold increase in drug use-related endogenous endophthalmitis hospitalizations was observed in the United States from 2003 to 2016, resulting in substantial health care use burden. These findings support the hypothesis that clinicians should maintain a high index of suspicion for endophthalmitis when evaluating patients with intraocular inflammation in the setting of drug dependence or use.